Ferguson banishing thoughts of Chelsea

Sir Alex Ferguson is adamant that thoughts of Sunday's Premiership showdown with Chelsea will not deflect his players from giving Panathinaikos their full attention in Athens tonight.

Ferguson may have acknowledged the importance of this weekend's trip to Stamford Bridge by leaving Roy Keane at home to rest his strained hamstring.

However, he said the remaining members of his squad will be going all out for victory in Greece to cement their place in the last 16 of the Champions League.

"It's difficult to say which is the most important of the two games, so the best way to deal with it is to concentrate on the first one and let the Chelsea match look after itself," said the United manager.

"We have played Panathinaikos before and it would be silly if we were complacent or relaxed against them. Three years ago they gave us a very difficult time in Athens."

Neil Wood, Paul Tierney and Danny Pugh have all made the trip but none is likely to start. Ferguson's main concern is who to bring in for Keane and whether to restore Ryan Giggs to his starting line-up.