Manchester United FC

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• Manager:Sir Alex Ferguson

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Fergie issues cup warning

06 Nov 2006 - 12:42:54

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Manchester United will take a strong side to Southend United in the Carling Cup as Sir Alex Ferguson aims to avoid a repeat of the performance that almost saw Crewe Alexandra dump the holders out at the third-round stage.

United were one minute away from the lottery of a penalty shoot-out as a weakened line-up laboured against the Railwaymen last month.

Kieran Lee snatched a 2-1 victory in extra time, but Ferguson doesn't want a repeat of the nervy display at Roots Hall on Tuesday evening.

"We had a nice wee reminder a couple of weeks ago at Crewe that football is always there to knock you down," Ferguson told the club's official website.

"We don't want another Crewe experience on Tuesday night so I'll be taking a stronger team to Southend.

"Although I've got a couple of nice young players in the reserves they are definitely too young for this situation.

"Cup games have that sudden-death thrust about them and you can be knocked out in a second."

Wayne Rooney, Louis Saha and Cristiano Ronaldo have all been named in the provisional squad along with the first-choice central defensive partnership of Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic.