Ferguson missing as United face Scunthorpe

Alex Ferguson was not in attendance for Manchester United as their quest for a fifth League Cup crown began against Scunthorpe in a Carling Cup third-round tie at Glanford Park.

Mike Phelan was listed as "acting manager" on the team sheet for the game, with no early indication as to why Ferguson had opted to stay away.

Michael Owen, Rio Ferdinand and Anderson were all named in a fairly strongUnited starting line-up. Owen and Anderson were making their first competitive starts since February while Ferdinand had recovered from the illness that kept him out of Sunday’s 3-2 win over Liverpool.

Bebe was included in the first-team squad for the first time on the bench while the npower Championship side made one change from last weekend’s defeat by Swansea, with Martyn Woolford replacing Michael Collins.

Scunthorpe: Murphy, Byrne, Mirfin, Canavan, Nolan, O’Connor, Togwell, Josh Wright, Woolford, Dagnall, Forte. Subs: Slocombe, Andrew Wright, Jones, Raynes, Grant, Collins, Godden.

Man Utd: Kuszczak, Brown, Ferdinand, Smalling, Rafael Da Silva, Park, Anderson, Gibson, Hernandez, Owen, Macheda. Subs: Van der Sar, O’Shea, Obertan, De Laet, Corry Evans, Bebe, Eikrem.

Referee: Mike Dean (Wirral)