Sir Alex eyes loan transfers

The 2-0 defeat to Coventry at Old Trafford left the Reds boss “shocked” and “flabbergasted” after his young side – with an average age of 21 – never really got going against Iain Dowie’s committed side.

The competition had been viewed as an opportunity to give the likes of Gerard Pique, Danny Simpson, Jonny Evans, Chris Eagles, Lee Martin and Dong Fangzhuo the chance to show what they can do.

With that avenue now cut off, there could be loan moves for a number of that group, although Pique and Simpson may be held back as defensive cover.

"It was a shock to us,” said the boss at his Friday press conference. “But the one thing that perhaps mitigated it was the fact that they've not had enough football as a team.

"We looked at the League Cup as an opportunity for these players to play,” he added. "Now that's gone I think we'll have to review the situation with one or two of them going on loan, because they do need football.

"With (Gary) Neville and (Owen) Hargreaves coming back we've got a good strong squad. There'll have to be some that we have to keep. Pique was excellent on Wednesday. He was our best player along with Anderson. We'll probably keep Simpson as he can play both full-back positions. But I'm maybe looking at the rest going on loan as they need to play football.”