Sir Alex Ferguson is ready to send Federico Macheda and Mame Biram Diouf out on loan following Man Utd's Carling Cup exit.
Ferguson wants more action for Macheda and Diouf
Sir Alex Ferguson is ready to send Federico Macheda and Mame Biram Diouf out on loan in the wake of Manchester United's shock Carling Cup exit to Crystal Palace in midweek.
The Red Devils boss felt compelled to apologise to supporters after his much-changed side were dumped out in the quarter-finals of the competition by the Championship club, who won 2-1 after extra time at Old Trafford.
United drew level after a Macheda penalty cancelled out Darren Ambrose's wonder-strike, but Glenn Murray settled the tie with a 98th-minute header.
And with opportunities to give his fringe players time on the field now limited, Ferguson believes some members of his squad could benefit from a spell away from Old Trafford.
"The problem we have is to do with the reserve league there is now - it's really a youth league," he said.
"That is a big problem. We'll be reviewing the whole situation in terms of how we get more games for the players.
"Loan deals work well for all the young players in terms of getting game-time and that's what we're looking at with Macheda and Diouf. They need games.
"They're young and every young player wants to play and we have to give them that opportunity."
Difficult night
Ferguson expects his younger players to learn from Wednesday's humbling home defeat.
He introduced prospects Ezekiel Fryers (19), Ravel Morrison (18) and Paul Pogba (18) off the bench and later admitted it had been hard for them to impress in such a game.
The Scot told
MUTV: "It is hard to come on when the team is not playing well around them. It was a difficult night for them but it won't do them any harm."
Ferguson did not want to spend much time discussing the reasons for the loss, adding: "They started very well for 10 minutes but then we got a lot of possession and didn't do anything with it.
"I don't think their goalkeeper made a save in the first half. Maybe we were playing too much short passing. There wasn't enough spread in the game.
"I am not going to dwell and go into the ins and outs of it all. At the end of the day it has been a very disappointing night for Manchester United."
