Teams:
Ferdinand is out with food poisoning according to The MEN but the BBC have him back. What we do know is that Mickey should be back
The MEN report that the Ginger Prince Scholes is set to play even though he needs a hernia op and will miss the England matches. N-n-n-n-nicky Butt and Quinton Fortune are back in the frame so we have a glut of midfielders.
No such luck up front as we continue with the barebones despite Giggs possibly being back. Let's hope we sign someone after the match cos if Ruud gets injured, we're knackered.
Utd (from): Howard, Carroll, G Neville, P Neville, Silvestre, Ferdinand (?), O'Shea, Solskjaer, Ronaldo, Keane, Scholes, Djemba-Djemba, Kleberson, Giggs, van Nistelrooy, Forlan, Fletcher, Richardson, Butt, Fortune.
Southampton (from): Jones, Dodd, Lundekvam, M Svensson, Le Saux, Fernandes, Oakley, A Svensson, Prutton, Phillips, Beattie, Ormerod, Marsden, Tessem, Telfer, Higginbotham, Niemi.
And a few quotes:
OGS:
"I need to start scoring goals.
"I haven't scored one yet and even though I am playing in midfield, I don't want to lose the instinct.
"At the moment, we use Ruud van Nistelrooy and Diego Forlan as main strikers, with myself Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes as the next options.
"It is important that I keep contributing to the team and that means I have to start improving on my goalscoring record."
Johnny:
"We need a better performance than the one we put in on Wednesday."
"While it was good to get the three points, we weren't too happy with the way we played because we know we are capable of much better.
"Hopefully we will have a few players back as well so that might make a difference."
Strap-on:
"We were more like our old selves at Leeds . We adopted a more high tempo approach and were hard to beat again.
"We were much more hungry and we will get even better. It was more like the Southampton of old.
"We worked hard and had more desire and we are going to need that against Manchester United because we are playing They can beat the best on their day.
"This is a fantastic test for us but we always feel like we can give them a good game at any time.
"All we can do is wok extremely hard and hope for a bit of luck but our fans must realise that we have a lot of new players in the team and it takes time for them to settle."
Strachan added: "There is a whole new left side and then of course Kevin Phillips has come into the squad. A big chunk of the team is new.
"I am still not decided what is my best midfield and there is a difficult decision to make about the goalkeeper. But I have been in that position before.
"As for Manchester United, I don't know whether I am excited or apprehensive. I know I will be excited if we win."
Timperley Red Danny Higginbotham:
"They have carried on where they left off last season," said Higginbotham. "Ruud van Nistelrooy just gets better and better and every time he plays he looks like he is going to score.
"I have been a huge United supporter all my life and for me it is always good to play against them, but we are going to have to battle hard if we are to get anything out of the game.
"They have strengethened again in the summer, but with all the new faces, people like Roy Keane, Ryan Giggs, Nicky Butt and Paul Scholes - all of whom I played alongside - are still there. So it will be good to catch up with them."
Southampton Chairman Rupert Lowe:
"With all their competitive advantages Manchester United should always win the war. Their economy is bigger than ours, so they should win the war. It doesn't stop us winning the odd battle, though, does it?"
James Beattie about Ruud:
"To get that number of goals in any team is unbelievable. I was quite happy with the 23 I scored. But the reason he gets 40-odd goals is he plays a lot more games than me. And he gets a lot more chances."