United happy to release England contingent

Manchester United’s quartet of England internationals have been cleared to train on Tuesday for next weekend’s crucial World Cup qualifier with Wales at Old Trafford.

Yesterday, Red Devils boss Alex Ferguson hinted that his England stars would be treated in the same way as Wales’ Ryan Giggs who has been ordered to rest for two days after tomorrow’s Barclays Premiership encounter with Middlesbrough.

Ferguson was concerned about Giggs being forced to travel to Cardiff and then return to Manchester within 24 hours to complete preparations for the game.

This scenario has been avoided because Wales are not due to head north until Thursday, but the Old Trafford boss has still refused to release Giggs earlier than the mandatory four-day deadline imposed by FIFA.

However, it is understood Ferguson has given the matter more thought and has decided his England players will be available to Sven-Goran Eriksson early in the week.

Eriksson is expected to name United’s Rio Ferdinand, Wayne Rooney, Gary Neville and Alan Smith in his squad tomorrow – and the Swede was facing the embarrassing prospect of holding a training session at United’s Carrington HQ on Tuesday without the players who regularly train there.

Ferguson is insistent the course of action is the best for Giggs who recently became only the third United player to pass 600 appearances for the club.