Welbeck is yet to make his senior debut for Manchester United but with Wayne Rooney suspended and Louis Saha injured, Ferguson is desperately short of forwards.

The teenager did play part of United's friendly in Saudi Arabia last month, after which the manager announced he would stay with the senior squad for the remainder of the season.

But to put him into the thick of the action against Manchester City on Sunday is something no-one would have expected.

Ferguson said: "I may bring in the boy Welbeck, possibly from the start.

"The boy has a chance of making it. We think he has that temperament.

"I think we want to keep Cristiano Ronaldo as a wide player, so we are short up front. Louis Saha is not back and we could have played Ryan Giggs through the middle but I think Welbeck has got the temperament.

"We will see tomorrow but I need to be very, very clear about everyone's fitness."

Ferguson does not expect City manger Sven-Goran Eriksson to spring any surprises on Sunday, although he will try to predict who will replace the absent Brazilian playmaker Elano.

"Sven has made sure they are defensively tight," said Ferguson.

"Only on one occasion has he played 4-4-2, in the main it has been one striker and I expect he will do that on Sunday, most teams do that at Old Trafford.

"He will have to replace Elano so we will try to work that one out but he's generally consistent with his selection so we should know what to expect."

The United manager had no problem with Rooney, Rio Ferdinand and Wes Brown all playing most of England's midweek friendly, although he was unhappy Ronaldo played the full match in Portugal's 3-1 friendly defeat by Italy.

"Ronaldo was the one I was disappointed with," said Ferguson. "They made five substitutions but he played 90 minutes. Deco and Maniche can come off when they want but he has to play the full game as he's the golden boy.

"We will give him a rest at some stage but he's playing great at the moment and looking very strong.

"But you are never going to change it and you are never going to be satisfied from a club point of view."