United's 4-2 second-leg triumph over Derby confirmed a Wembley date - almost certainly with Tottenham - on March 1. But it is Saturday's meeting with Spurs in the FA Cup that will concern Ferguson most as he copes with a massive injury crisis.

Aside from Anderson, carried off after the final whistle, and Rafael - who hobbled off just before half-time with a torn hamstring - Nani, Gary Neville and Ryan Giggs all failed to complete the full 90 minutes.

While Jonny Evans did get to the final whistle, he was limping badly with an ankle injury.

"There are probably six or seven of them who have picked up injuries," confirmed Ferguson.

"It has been a bad night in that respect.

"We finished with 10 men. But it was effectively nine, because Jonny was in great discomfort. We will just have to see what happens now."

Darren Fletcher is almost certain to be called on as a makeshift right-back until either Rio Ferdinand or Patrice Evra returns to action, something that is not expected for a couple of weeks at least.

Ferguson will hope to patch Neville up after being forced to introduce James Chester for his debut, while Rafael's brother Fabio may now come into contention at left-back.

The fitness woes took the gloss of another final for Ferguson, his 14th from 15 domestic semi-finals.

Nani curled United in front before John O'Shea and Carlos Tevez put the Red Devils into a comfortable half-time lead.

Substitute Cristiano Ronaldo tapped home a penalty in between two efforts from Giles Barnes - who is just coming back from his own injury troubles - to ensure there were no serious late worries against Nigel Clough's men.

"Fourteen wins out of 15 semi-finals is a great record. The club has done well in semi-finals down the years, and it is good to reach another final," said Ferguson.

The United boss has vowed to stick with youngsters such as Darron Gibson for the Wembley showpiece, with a trip to Turf Moor on the cards tomorrow for the outcome of Tottenham's last-four visit to Burnley.

Derby manager Nigel Clough admitted poor defending cost his side the chance of causing an upset at Old Trafford.

Nani's strike was virtually unstoppable, but the O'Shea and Tevez goals were down to lapses in concentration at the back.

However, Clough felt the first half had still been an improvement on the 2-0 home defeat by QPR at the weekend.

"The first goal knocked the stuffing out of us; 30 yards in the top corner ... you can't do much about those," he said.

"Defending the second and third goals was disappointing. But it was a vast improvement on Saturday - even the first half.

"It would be very easy to give up the ghost, 3-0 down at Old Trafford, and we could have been on the end of five or six.

"I asked them to defend a bit better and have a go and I thought we did that. We took the game to them as much as we could.

"We kept going, got the goal - and it was a little bit jittery for five or 10 minutes.

"We showed a bit of character, which after Saturday was what we were looking for.

"It was nice for Barnes to come on and get a couple of goals. He has been out (injured) for a long time."