Manchester United winger Cristiano Ronaldo said he will brush aside an ankle niggle, and the concerns of Sir Alex Ferguson, to play for Portugal in the Euro 2008 qualifier against Kazakhstan on Wednesday.

Ronaldo injured his ankle in United's 1-0 Premiership win away at Blackburn on Saturday, prompting United manager Ferguson to ask Portugal coach Luiz Felipe Scolari to spare him.

But shortly after arriving in Portugal late on Sunday Ronaldo was adamant he will play for his country, who want a victory to help overturn a bad start to their campaign.

"I'm fine, it was just a small knock. I think one or two days and I will be back to 100 percent," said the 21-year-old Ronaldo.

"I think I'm going to play on Wednesday."

Ferguson had said: "It's against Kazakhstan so you would have thought Portugal could handle that without Ronaldo, but if he's got one of these injuries which is 50-50 I hope he doesn't play."

Ronaldo missed Scolari's first training session for the match, held in Lisbon on Monday, and was instead looked after by a physiotherapist, a Portuguese Football Federation spokesperson said.

The team will hold its second and last training session on Tuesday in the central Portuguese city of Coimbra where the Euro 2008 qualifier will be held.

Scolari has said his side must win the Group A match because of their poor start to their qualifying campaign.

"As we are a little bit behind in the group, it is imperative we win all our home games," he said when he unveiled his 20-man squad for the match last week.

Portugal have just four points from three matches, six fewer than leaders Serbia.

(AFP November 14, 2006)