The issue of wine has been a major talking point between the old Premier League rivals ever since Ferguson encountered Mourinho at Stamford Bridge three years ago to be presented with a barely drinkable offering which was too bad to be believed.

Ferguson never allowed Mourinho to live the blunder down, even though the now former Chelsea chief attempted to make up for the faux-pas by offering the Scot the most expensive bottle of Portuguese wine he could find on their next meeting.

The United chief had already decided what vintage to give Mourinho on Sunday when Chelsea head to Old Trafford. But somehow, a drink with Avram Grant does not hold the same appeal.

"I just do not know what I am going to do with my wine now," smiled Ferguson.

"Jose leaving Chelsea is a disappointment for the game. He brought something fresh and new and I enjoyed the competition with him. I will miss the personal challenge.

"He enjoyed unparalleled success at Chelsea and it will be a big test for whoever replaces him. At the moment that person is Avram Grant."

Ferguson does know Grant, having invited the 52-year-old to United's Carrington training complex during both his time with Maccabi Haifa and the Israeli national side.

"He came here two or three times," said the United boss.

"He is a nice man and a very calm person.

"But I am not looking at Chelsea. What it does to them does not matter to me."

Yet Ferguson has never made any secret of his affection for Mourinho, probably because he sees part of his own personality in the now unemployed former Porto coach.

Their relationship remained strong despite that fact in head-to-head meetings between the pair, Mourinho came out on top with far greater frequency, securing decisive home and away Premier League wins at various times, squeezing through a Carling Cup semi-final three seasons ago and then coming out on top in last year's FA Cup final.

Yet for all his warmth for Mourinho, and his desire to see him back in the game as soon as possible, Ferguson knows he cannot afford to get sidetracked as his team look to build on a run of four successive single-goal victories.

"We are still playing Chelsea," said Ferguson. "That in itself is a challenge for us.

"It is still the same players. and if you look at the record between us over the last three or four years, there is nothing in it.

"We have enough on our plate at the moment, which is why I am concentrating on us."

Given the turmoil at Stamford Bridge, the close bond Mourinho forged with so many of his key men and their recent poor form, Chelsea would appear to make ideal opponents at the present time.

Key duo Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard are not thought to be any closer to full fitness and the void left by their absence was emphasised in Tuesday's draw with Rosenborg, in what proved to be Mourinho's last match in charge.

However, Ferguson will take any team news seeping out of the capital with a very large pinch of salt.

In matches of this magnitude, the Scot accepts information is distributed on a strictly need-to-know basis.

"Chelsea are like every club, including ourselves, in that you try to conceal information," he said.

"You try to protect your knowledge."

If that is the case, Ferguson's own team news cannot be taken at face value either, although his assertion Wayne Rooney will start seems clear enough.

Neither skipper Gary Neville nor midfielder Owen Hargreaves are likely to be involved as they inch towards full fitness after recent injury problems.

Having kept four clean sheets on the bounce, it would be unlikely if United's defence altered too much, so Ferguson's major decision appears to be whether to offer Carlos Tevez a recall, probably in place of Nani, as he looks for a cutting edge up front.

It is now an incredible 13 games since United last scored more than once and Ferguson admitted it is proving difficult to get the right balance.

"I don't know what my preference in attack is because, at the moment, I don't have any evidence," he said.

"What I do have is more ammunition to work with.

"Wayne and Carlos are getting fitter all the time and if Louis Saha stays fit, I have tremendous options, which is important because maybe we didn't have that last year."