Fergie eyes in-house succession

Van der Sar: Set to decide future

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson believes Ben Foster or Tomasz Kuszczak will take over from Edwin van der Sar when the veteran finally hangs up his gloves.

The Dutch master, who turns 40 next year, is set to decide in the coming days whether he will continue at Old Trafford beyond next summer when his current contract expires, or give way to someone else.

While Ferguson has been strongly linked with CSKA Moscow's Igor Akinfeev, he has given his clearest indication yet that Van der Sar's successor will come from in-house.

The United boss said: "Edwin's not said anything yet about what he intends to do.

"He has come back from his recent injury well. It will be Christmas time or sometime in December when he will outline his plans and how long he will go on.

"We will await that.

Terrific ability

"Ben has terrific ability and needs game experience. Tomasz is also another good keeper.

"At the end of the day the two of them will fight it out, I'm sure of that."

Either Foster or Kuszczak will feature in goal when the Red Devils take on Besiktas in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday.

With United's place in the first knockout round already confirmed, Ferguson will use the game to give some of his fringe players a chance to shine.

But that does not mean that the United boss will demand anything other than 100 per cent from his players as he seeks to finish top of Group B.

"We want to win the group," added Ferguson.

"Their (Besiktas) form has been transformed in the last six matches. They have won them all and they are in very good form.

"It's a good fixture in that we are already through. It means I can try one or two things. We could easily have an absolute non-event game, but we will try and challenge the younger players at the back."