United signings benched

Alex Ferguson is ready to resist the temptation to pitch any of his new signings straight into battle as Manchester United open their Premier League title defence against Reading on Sunday.

Owen Hargreaves, Nani and Anderson will all be in the Red Devils squad to face last season’s surprise packets but all three are likely to start on the bench.

Paul Scholes will play after coming through a 90-minute outing at Dunfermline in midweek but Gary Neville (ankle) is out for another three weeks, while Louis Saha and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (both knee) have only just returned to training.

Team (from): Van der Sar, Kuszczak, Brown, Simpson, Bardsley, Ferdinand, Vidic, Silvestre, Evra, O’Shea, Carrick, Hargreaves, Eagles, Scholes, Fletcher, Giggs, Ronaldo, Rooney, Nani, Anderson.