Vidic rested for derby

The skipper was due to be involved in an international friendly match for Serbia against Israel in Tel Aviv on Wednesday.

However, boss Sir Alex Ferguson is understood to have negotiated a deal with the Serbian FA so that Vidic is not involved in the game, allowing him to focus on stopping Carlos Tevez at Old Trafford when City visit on Saturday.

The move, widely reported in the UK press including in The Guardian, is not surprising given the new injury blow United suffered following Rio Ferdinand's calf injury at the weekend. If Vidic were to play and get injured for Serbia, it would leave Ferguson without either of his usual central defensive pairing for at least the crunch clash with City.

Ferguson is understood to be taking precautionary steps to guarantee that United have the best possible chance of winning a record 19th championship - eclipsing the previous record they share with rivals Liverpool - as this season's title race heads into the home stretch.

The Guardian notes that United defender Jonny Evans has been withdrawn from Northern Ireland's friendly against Scotland citing a "sore ankle" while Chris Smalling was also withdrawn from the England Under-21 game against Italy.

Ferdinand is expected to miss two to three weeks which leaves the club with new signing Smalling and the out-of-form Evans, as well as frozen out veteran Wes Brown, as their first team central defenders.