Rodrigo Possebon will return to the Manchester United starting line-up on Tuesday night with Sir Alex Ferguson admitting he feared the worst when he saw the young Brazilian being carried off against Middlesbrough.

The teenager had been bossing the Boro midfield in September's third-round Carling 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 the United boss.

"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 Carling 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.

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.

Welbeck is regarded at Old Trafford as a player of high potential, even more so that Frazier Campbell, who is currently on loan at Tottenham.

The Macclesfield-born youngster knows Ferguson will not be scared to give him a chance if he shows enough promise, with evidence coming in the form of 18-year-old full-back Rafael Da Silva.

Darren Fletcher, Nani and Anderson will probably be involved in some capacity, while 18-year-old James Chester may profit from Brown's absence, which leaves Ferguson short of defensive cover.

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 keepers when 38-year-old Edwin van der Sar is rested.

QPR's caretaker manager Gareth Ainsworth admits he will be "in awe" of opposite number Ferguson when his side travel to Old Trafford.

Just over three weeks ago, the 35-year-old winger was an occasional bench warmer and reserve-team coach at Loftus Road.

But following Iain Dowie's sacking last month, Ainsworth is now preparing to lock horns with Ferguson, and he revealed: "I'll admit I will be in awe of Sir Alex, he's a great manager.

"If you'd asked me a few weeks ago then not in my wildest dreams did I think I'd be pitting myself against him."

He added: "We're the underdogs and we're not expected to win but if we put the passion in we can achieve anything at this club.

"The Premier League is the place we want to be so this is going to be a little taste of what the boys can expect and what they can look forward to, because I believe QPR will be in the Premier League very soon.

"I'll still feel the pressure, though. We want to go up there and give a good account of ourselves and who knows what will happen?

"It's going to be a massive challenge for us and an amazing experience for the boys. Some people say they won't play their first team but their second team is pretty good as well.

"But we'll just take it as it comes. I'll be a very proud man to be in the opposite dug-out to Sir Alex, it will be a big moment in my career."

Gavin Mahon could have played himself into the QPR starting line-up.

Mahon replaced the tiring former Italy midfielder Damiano Tommasi during the second half against Cardiff on Saturday and headed the only goal of the game 10 minutes from the end.

Striker Patrick Agyemang returned from a pelvic injury as a substitute at the weekend and will also be hoping for a more prominent role at Old Trafford.

Midfielder Mikele Leigertwood serves the third game of a four-match ban while forward Rowan Vine is still battling back from the broken leg he suffered last season.

On-loan Real Madrid midfielder Daniel Parejo could return to the bench after missing out on Saturday.