Scholes fears for United place

Paul Scholes has admitted he is worried about his lack of action going into the new season.

He is sweating on his place in the Manchester United side to face Zalaegerszeg in their Champions League qualifier after failing to complete a single pre-season game.

Scholes is part of a four-man battle for two central midfield slots, with one almost certain to be taken by Roy Keane.

After a below-par campaign for club and country last term, Scholes appears to have fallen behind Nicky Butt and Juan Sebastian Veron in the pecking order.

He may have to be content with a place on the bench in Budapest.

His cause has not been helped by the knee injury he picked up against Ajax two weeks ago, which forced him to fly home for a scan and miss the games against Parma and Aarhus.

And, after missing those chances to impress his manager, he did not lack motivation in Saturday's clash with Boca Juniors, marking his second half entrance with a series of crunching tackles which upset the Argentines to such an extent that Carlos Tevez was sent off for elbowing Scholes in the face.

"It was a bit blood and thunder but at this stage the tougher the games are, the more you will get out of them," Scholes told MUTV.

"It's been a strange build-up because I came back late after the World Cup and haven't managed to get in as many games as I would have liked.

"I got that little knock on my knee which meant that I haven't played a full game yet. You normally need at least three matches to get into the swing of things but hopefully that will change over the next few weeks."