Manchester United v Besiktas- Danny Welbeck and Federico Macheda get chance
24 Nov 2009 - 10:06:19
Having already secured qualification from Group B, Ferguson admits he is now prepared to experiment with his team in the final two games, at home to Besiktas and away to Wolfsburg on Dec 8.
Young strikers Welbeck, 19 on Thursday, and Macheda, 18, have been conspicuous by their absence from Ferguson's squads this term.
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But Ferguson admits that he must now test Welbeck and Macheda at the highest level in order not to stunt their development at Old Trafford.
Ferguson said: 'I will be making changes (against Besiktas). Not a lot, but enough just to freshen it up.
'It's a problem keeping players happy, but everyone has that when you have a squad of players.
'We use the League Cup for that and, if we can qualify early enough in the (Champions League) group, we can then use the likes of Welbeck.
'He will definitely play (against Besiktas) and Macheda too probably. They are the ones that need to be challenged.
'They've reached a point, and it happens in football, when a footballer has the ability to be a top player and you recognise that.
'You have to give them the challenge. If you don't, they lose the scent.
'But this club has been good at recognising that over the years.
'It's unfortunate for players above them, but when the likes of Nicky Butt and Paul Scholes came through, we thought they were certainties, but we had to give them a chance. And we did.
'That's the nature of football. A young player turns the corner and takes someone's job.'
United are three points clear of second placed Wolfsburg and top spot will, and a seeding for the second round draw, will be secured with four points from their remaining two games.
But Ferguson admits that, despite the planned changes, he expects his team to deliver positive results.
He said: 'We have two records to maintain. Our home record has been really good over the last few years, but away from home, we can go past Ajax's record of being unbeaten if we avoid defeat in Wolfsburg.
'So we have that consistency to protect and hopefully we can do that.'
