Beckham appeared to be in agony as he was carried off on a stretcher, hands clasped over his face, in the dying seconds of United’s 2-0 win at the Riazor Stadium after being scythed down by Diego Tristan.

He was walking with a slight limp as he travelled back to Manchester today wearing flip-flops with his ankle bandaged.

However, he only has a couple of cuts on his ankle and was able to drive home from Manchester airport.

He will not have an X-ray today, but may have a scan tomorrow when the players return to training.

Ferguson claims he should only be out for a week and he said: ‘‘We’ll know more later, but he could be back for next week.’’

That will be a relief to Ferguson who will be without Roy Keane, Paul Scholes and Juan Sebastian Veron for the second leg at Old Trafford on Wednesday.

Keane is out for four to six weeks with a hamstring injury, which rules him out of the semi-final, while Scholes is suspended and Veron has Achilles trouble.

Veron went to see a specialist in Rome this week and United may try to rush him back for Wednesday.

But whether United do or not, Gary Neville claims the other players must forget about these injuries

when they face Deportivo.

‘‘Scholesy and Keano look like they may miss the game and that’s disappointing,’’ he said.

‘‘But we have to go out and enjoy the game at Old Trafford and perform with the same discipline and level of performance that we have shown in the first leg.

‘‘This result gives us confidence knowing we have beaten a quality team on their own patch.

‘‘They don’t get beaten here very often and this is a great result for us.’’

Neville also warned his team-mates not to dream of the semi-finals just yet.

The odds are stacked against Deportivo and while they did win 3-2 at Old Trafford back in October, United have never lost a European home game by more than one goal.

Neville, though, claims United cannot afford any complacency and he feels Deportivo are still dangerous.

‘‘Half the job is done,’’ said the England defender.

‘‘They will still have hope of doing something at Old Trafford next week.

‘‘We’ve really got to be on our toes because they are good on the counter-attack.

‘‘Although they are disappointed to lose the first leg 2-0, they will still come at us at Old Trafford with a lot of pace and apply a lot of pressure.

‘‘It’s in our own hands. Our fans have not had much to cheer about in the quarter-finals in the last two seasons so it would be nice to go out at Old Trafford and put on a bit of a performance for them as well as getting a result, which is the most important thing.

‘‘But we also realise we have got to be on our guard because Deportivo are a top team.

‘‘They can go away from home and beat the best sides. They went to Real Madrid a few weeks ago and won in the Bernabeu Stadium and that shows you what they can do.’’

Neville’s caution is understandable, but barring a footballing disaster United should progress to the

semi-finals and a possible showdown with Liverpool.

And just in case they need a good omen, the number of their flight home from La Coruna, which was delayed for over an hour after lightning struck the plane on the way out, was BA1999.