Brady hoping for United start against Chelsea

The dust may still be some way from settling on Manchester United’s dramatic and controversial win over Chelsea on Sunday, but the two clubs must get ready to do battle again tonight in the Capital One Cup, fourth round at Stamford Bridge just three days after last weekend’s stormy encounter.

The players involved may be different — both clubs having fielded a number of fringe players the previous round — but it remains to be seen whether that prevents any needle from United’s 3-2 win spilling over.

In terms of the match action to come, United boss Alex Ferguson confirmed he intends to rotate his squad, with republic of Ireland winger Robbie Brady among those hoping to play a part. The 2-1 win over Newcastle in round three saw the likes of youngster Michael Keane, Marnick Vermijl and Scott Wootton given starts along with new signing Alexander Buttner, while Nick Powell, Ryan Tunnicliffe and Brady came off the bench. Ferguson said: “Obviously we will make changes for the game. The squad that played against Newcastle will be in place again. You don’t want to lose down there and we want to continue in the cup. Any game down there is going to be tough. There has been good progress there since Roberto di Matteo took the job. They are big games — and big games are good for us.”