Beware friendly faces, warns Neville

Phil Neville has warned his Manchester United team-mates to beware the returning heroes at Old Trafford tonight.

Former Red Devil favourites Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke will spearhead the opposition attack as holders Blackburn look to set themselves up for a second successive Worthington Cup final.

And Neville has already seen what damage the pair can do after their starring role in Rovers’ 1-0 Premiership triumph over Alex Ferguson’s men and knows they will have to be watched closely if United are to stand any chance of reaching their first Millennium Stadium final.

“Andy and Dwight were outstanding at Ewood Park,” Neville told MUTV.

“I know neither of them scored but they were the two who caused us the problems. They both offered an outlet ball, Andy in particular has got himself into a bit of form and we all know that when he gets scoring goals there is no stopping him.

“As defenders we will have to be at our best to stop them.”

United are making a surprise appearance in the last four after almost discarding the competition in previous seasons, with Ferguson usually taking the opportunity to blood youngsters and give reserve team players a game.

This season has been different, notably because of the Old Trafford outfit’s poor form in the build-up to their third round tie against Leicester and then two attractive ties with Burnley and Chelsea.

“The manager has put out stronger sides in the Worthington Cup this season than he has done in the past,” said Neville.

“We have still taken the opportunity to give the likes of Michael Stewart, Kieran Richardson and Roy Carroll a few games. It is still a competition where we have experimented but the depth of the squad has changed.”

Neville returned to the United line-up against Portsmouth on Saturday, although Ferguson is again expected to make changes as he tries to keep his squad fresh for a demanding run-in.

Sunderland’s David Bellion has been strongly linked with an Old Trafford move before the end of January but it will be the same personnel who have kept United in contention for four trophies who will be on duty tonight.

Skipper Roy Keane is likely to miss out after limping out of Saturday’s 4-1 win with a tight hamstring, while Fabien Barthez is also struggling with a thigh muscle injury.

Juan Sebastian Veron, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and John O’Shea all return to the squad after being rested at the weekend, while Paul Scholes and Wes Brown should step up from the bench.

“We played Blackburn two weeks ago and they did really well against us,” said Neville.

“We went into the game full of confidence after eight successive wins and we were disappointed with the outcome.

“Blackburn have a lot of quality players and had a great result at Aston Villa on Saturday.

“That result proved that playing in big stadiums doesn’t bother them and we are under no illusions about how tough the game is going to be."