A few questions have been asked of Sir Alex Ferguson’s team selection so far this season following decisions to massively rotate the central midfield positions. Paul Scholes, Darren Fletcher, Anderson, Michael Carrick and Darron Gibson have all had a go and the press reported Anderson’s lack of match time was down to a falling out he had with the manager.

Fergie has explained that he has been rotating to keep the squad fresh and that the rumours are a load of rubbish.

“Michael wasn’t involved against Birmingham or Wigan because we played Burnley on the Wednesday and it was a chance to freshen up. That’s exactly what he did,” said Ferguson. “We also had Fletcher and Scholes back for Wigan, so it was just a matter of freshening it up. We are also trying to push Gibson on as much as we can because the boy has improved at a fantastic rate of knots. We’ve been really impressed with him. That’s the reason. There’s no reason other than that. Anderson was also left out. I read stuff about a dust-up with Anderson which is absolute rubbish. Absolute nonsense.”