Ruud left on the bench

Ruud van Nistelrooy was again left on the bench by Alex Ferguson as Manchester United looked to complete an eight-day double over Wigan.

Ferguson caused a minor sensation when he left the Dutch striker out of his side for last Sunday’s Carling Cup final but judging by comments from the forward in Holland last week, Van Nistelrooy expected to regain his spot for the north-west derby at the JJB Stadium.

Instead, Ferguson stuck with the same starting line-up that recorded such a clinical victory at the Millennium Stadium, with Louis Saha preferred in attack.

Wigan made two changes, one forced on manager Paul Jewell as John Filan replaced hamstring injury victim Mike Pollitt in goal. Lee McCulloch also came in for Stephane Henchoz.

Wigan v Man Utd teams

Wigan: Filan, Chimbonda, Scharner, De Zeeuw, Baines, Teale, Bullard, Kavanagh, McCulloch, Roberts, Camara.

Subs: Walsh, Jackson, Johansson, Ziegler, Thompson.

Man Utd: Van der Sar, Neville, Ferdinand, Brown, Silvestre, Ronaldo, O’Shea, Giggs, Park, Saha, Rooney.

Subs: Howard, Evra, van Nistelrooy, Vidic, Richardson.

Referee: S Bennett (Kent)