Anyone still wondering why Manchester United are edging slowly, if unspectacularly, towards the Treble need only look to Dimitar Berbatov and Nani for an answer.
The United pair strengthened their side's position at the top of the Barclays Premier League charts in the 2-0 win over Fulham - Berbatov with his 21st goal of the season and Nani with his 18th assist - and yet neither player is guaranteed a start against Chelsea in the Champions League quarter-final second leg at Old Trafford.
Berbatov is likely to drop out again to make way for Wayne Rooney and, possibly, Javier Hernandez, while Park Ji-sung's role as an unused substitute on Saturday and Antonio Valencia's early withdrawal suggest they will line up in the wide positions, as they did in the first leg at Stamford Bridge last week.
Indeed, all eight changes made by manager Sir Alex Ferguson against Fulham could quite easily be reversed, and it is this strength in depth as much as strength of character that is enabling his side to chase a record 19th league title as well as the Champions League and FA Cup throughout a season beset by injury and recent controversy.
United may lack 'fantasy', as Didier Deschamps pointed out recently, but certainly not choices.
Fulham boss Mark Hughes, who joined Chelsea from United in 1995, has seen it all before. He believes his old club might actually have become stronger without headline acts like Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez.
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