Scholes sent home as precaution

Paul Scholes has been flown home from Manchester United’s pre-season tour for treatment on a knee injury he picked up against Ajax in Amsterdam on Friday.

Although the damage is not thought to be too serious, United boss Sir Alex Ferguson felt there was little point in the England midfielder staying on when there was little chance of him taking part in tonight’s encounter with Parma.

Scholes was the victim of a number of crunching tackles against the Dutch double winners, not least a scything tackle from behind by Romanian defender Cristian Chivu.

The injury is one of a number of niggles affecting the United squad, which has resulted in three men being flown out to link up with the first-team party.

Scotland international Michael Stewart and Bojan Djordjic have been seconded along with reserve goalkeeper Ben Williams, who will sit on the bench tonight as Fabien Barthez has not quite recovered from the thigh muscle strain he picked up on Friday.

Dutch striker Ruud van Nistelrooy is another unlikely to figure this evening as he continues to nurse a shin problem but strike partner Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has recovered from a neck injury.