Stars absent for United

Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson almost outdid Steve Coppell in the changes stakes today as United tackled Reading for a place in the FA Cup sixth round.

In the end, Coppell made seven alternations to his starting line-up, while Ferguson made six, notable absences for the hosts including Wayne Rooney, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Gary Neville and Henrik Larsson.

Cristiano Ronaldo was back though to try and prevent Reading earning a first win at Old Trafford and reaching the quarter-finals for the first time since 1927.

Man Utd: Kuszczak, Brown, Vidic, Silvestre, Heinze, Ronaldo, Fletcher, Carrick, Park, Saha, Solskjaer.

Subs: Heaton, Evra, Larsson, Scholes, O’Shea.

Reading: Federici, De la Cruz, Bikey, Ingimarsson, Shorey, Ki-Hyeon, Oster, Gunnarsson, Sidwell, Convey, Kitson.

Subs: Hahnemann, Little, Lita, Hunt, Sodje.

Referee: G Poll (Hertfordshire).