• Ferdinand and Terry could face each other on Sunday
• ‘It doesn’t detract from anything to shake John Terry’s hand’

Sir Alex Ferguson intends to speak with Rio Ferdinand ahead of Manchester United’s Premier League encounter with Chelsea on Sunday to try and calm concerns about the pre-match handshake.

As John Terry is doubtful for the Stamford Bridge encounter with a knee injury, the issue over whether Ferdinand should shake his England team-mate’s hand may not arise.

However, a tweet sent by Rio after it was confirmed that Terry would not face a court case into his alleged racial abuse of Ferdinand’s brother, Anton, until after Euro 2012, seemed to indicate the 33-year-old was not too impressed by the situation. “I feel insulted,” Ferdinand wrote. “Woke up with a bad taste in my mouth, it’s a goddamn joke!”

And with the elder Ferdinand believed to be in two minds about whether to shake hands with Terry after the Premier League confirmed they had no plans to scrap the traditional pre-match greeting, Ferguson wants to reassure the 33-year-old.

“John Terry might not play but I would have a word with Rio about the situation,” Ferguson said. “Rio has been fighting racism for many years and the lad must rise above it. It doesn’t detract from anything to shake John Terry’s hand. He [Rio] has done nothing to be ashamed of.”

It is the first of two such cases United are faced with on successive weekends given that Luis Suárez is set to be in the Liverpool squad to face the Red Devils at Old Trafford on Saturday 11 February. It would be the Uruguayan’s first meeting with Patrice Evra since he was banned for eight matches for making racist comments towards the Frenchman.

“Patrice Evra has already shown the courage to fight it by complaining about it,” Ferguson said. “It is nothing to be ashamed of. There is not a problem shaking hands.

“The handshake started with Sky. There is nothing wrong with it,” he said. “It is only a handshake. There have been plenty of examples of players shaking hands whilst saying you won’t be shaking my hand at the end. Football is football. It is a competitive game.”

Rio FerdinandJohn TerrySir Alex FergusonChelseaManchester United
guardian.co.uk

• Ramires appeared to be injured when struck by the ball
• Brazilian could miss Champions League tie against Napoli

Ramires may be out “for at least four weeks at least” due to a medial knee ligament injury suffered during the second half of Chelsea’s FA Cup fourth-round victory at Queens Park Rangers.

The injury appeared to happen when the ball hit the Brazilian midfielder’s leg. After lengthy treatment by club medical staff he was carried off on a stretcher.

If he is out a month, he could miss at least four Premier League games and the last-16 round of the Champions League when it resumes next month.

André Villas-Boas, the Chelsea manager, said: “It’s not so bad in terms of knee injuries. He’ll have the MRI on Sunday and we’ll know the full extent. Hopefully he is going to avoid an operation and he is going be back soon.

“We have to know the extent of the injury – eventually with treatment we could look at a four-week period, maybe more, hopefully not.”

The midfielder is likely to miss the league games with Swansea, Manchester United, Everton and Bolton Wanderers, plus the first leg of the Champions League last-16 encounter with Napoli.

Frank Lampard, who sat out the 1-0 win over QPR with a calf injury, is rated at 50-50 to play against Swansea City on Tuesday.

ChelseaQPRFA Cup 2011-12FA CupJamie Jackson
guardian.co.uk