GREAT OPPORTUNITY

The Manchester United midfielder Darren Fletcher is of the opinion that the Champions League match against CFR Cluj is a great opportunity for the youngsters at the club to show what they can do is provided with an opportunity. United have already qualified for the next stage in the competition as the group winners. As a result, they are likely to rest a number of senior players for the match against CFR Cluj, although the manager Sir Alex Ferguson has suggested that he will be trying as hard as possible to maintain the integrity of the competition.

Darren Fletcher is expected to be one of the senior members of the squad who will take part in this match in the hope of building his fitness, as he has just returned to first team action after more than a year out with an injury. The likes of Nick Powell are expected to take part in this match. Fletcher has already said that he is extremely impressed with the 18-year-old Nick Powell, who made his debut in the European competition in the previous match against Galatasaray. Manchester United had lost the match 1-0, but they will be hoping for a much better performance from the youngsters this time around.

“I thought we were unfortunate to lose that match. We played a couple of young players and put in a good performance. It will have been massive for Nick Powell’s development. Nick is a fantastic player already. He is still relatively young but he is going to be a huge player for United. There is no doubt about that,” said Darren Fletcher ahead of the match. United are in a great position to try out a number of new players and also hand some playing time to some of the lesser used first-team players.