ENGLISH LEAGUE CUP FOURTH ROUND:RODRIGO POSSEBON will return to the Manchester United starting line-up tonight with Alex Ferguson admitting he feared the worst when he saw the young Brazilian being carried off against Middlesbrough.

The teenager had been bossing the Middlesbrough midfield in September's third-round League Cup tie when he was crudely cut down by Emanuel Pogatetz.

An instant red card followed, with a humble apology coming from Teesside the next day once the severity of Pogatetz's challenge had become clear.

By then, X-rays had established there had been no leg break, as Ferguson initially thought, but some sort of ligament damage seemed certain once the swelling from a nasty gash had gone down to allow a full diagnosis.

Remarkably, Possebon had not suffered that either, leaving him free to continue a career that has shown immense promise since the 18-year-old arrived from South America in January.

"We did worry," admitted Ferguson. "When I saw Rodrigo going off, it did not look like he would be seen again for quite a while. But there was no problem with the boy. He is a terrific kid and his temperament is excellent, which allowed him to get over it."

For the next instalment of the League Cup, Possebon will be joined by Jonny Evans, Darron Gibson and striking pair Manucho and Danny Welbeck against QPR as United look to secure a place in the last eight of a competition they won as recently as 2006, when they hammered Wigan at the Millennium Stadium.

The form of Angolan hitman Manucho and England under-19 international Welbeck - who has struggled with a series of injury setbacks this term - will be of particular interest, even if Ferguson has plenty of experience on hand in case of trouble.

Darren Fletcher, Nani and Anderson will probably be involved in some capacity, while 18-year-old James Chester may profit from Wes Brown's absence through injury.

After handing Ben Foster his first Champions League start in Glasgow, Tomasz Kuszczak will be in goal as Ferguson pursues a policy of rotating his back-up goalkeepers when 38-year-old Edwin van der Sar is rested.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger will keep faith with his young players against Wigan tonight.

Emmanuel Adebayor (ankle) and Robin van Persie (suspended) are not available while goalkeeper Manuel Almunia took a kick to the head against Manchester United at the weekend and is likely to be rested. Abou Diaby, Kolo Toure and Amaury Bischoff are also likely to be included in the squad for the visit of Steve Bruce's side.