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http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/m/man_utd/9179582.stm

Manchester United's injury-hit squad has been further depleted ahead of Saturday's trip to Aston Villa.

Paul Scholes is suspended for the Premier League encounter after getting his fifth booking of the season in the 0-0 draw with Manchester City.

Brazilian defender Rafael Da Silva is out with a dead leg and an ankle injury to Patrice Evra will be assessed.

United are already missing the likes of Wayne Rooney, Owen Hargreaves, Antonio Valencia, Ryan Giggs and Michael Owen.

With so many players on the sidelines, Ferguson will have been dismayed to see both Rafael and Evra hobble off with injuries in the second half of Wednesday night's Manchester derby.

"Rafael has a dead leg," revealed Ferguson. "He will miss Saturday, of course, but it is not so bad. Patrice has an ankle injury, which we will assess on Thursday."

Ferguson's preparations for the game were disrupted by a virus which struck down several members of the squad.

"We have done well to get a good team on the pitch," said Ferguson. "The big problems for us were Scholes and (Darren) Fletcher.

"Scholes has been on medication for the last two days. He has not trained. Darren only trained this morning. It was an ankle injury but fortunately he was OK."

United's fifth draw in six away Premier League matches so far this season saw them slip four points behind league leaders Chelsea, who beat Fulham 1-0.