Sir Alex Ferguson expects Louis Saha to be involved in Saturday's Barclays Premier League clash with Sunderland at Old Trafford.

The French striker was pencilled in to play some part against Tottenham last weekend, only to be left out of the final 16-man squad. After another intensive week of training, however, Sir Alex has revealed that he should feature against Roy Keane's Black Cats.

"Louis is such an important player for us," Sir Alex told his pre-match press conference. "I don't think he'll start, but he can be a very important player if he comes on. He gives us another option, there needs to be more of a cutting edge about our game."

The 29-year-old striker has not appeared for United since a substitute cameo in May's defeat to AC Milan, and has been recuperating from a knee injury all summer.

Fellow injury victim Anderson could also feature on Saturday, having trained after suffering a hamstring strain earlier this month.

The Brazilian could make his United debut after arriving in a summer transfer from Porto, and he has impressed his new manager with his commitment to succeeding in England.

"I'm really pleased with Anderson's development over the last couple of weeks in terms of his training," said Sir Alex, who also confirmed that Gary Neville will not be fit in time for Saturday's match.

It'll be Roy Keane's first visit to Old Trafford as a manager having steered the Black Cats to the Championship crown last season. Still worshipped