HE STILL WANTS TO WIN IT

Despite Ferguson wanting to win a major trophy this season he still wants the Carling Cup to remain at the club and he has admitted he'll play a stronger team than in the last round.

"We had a nice wee reminder a couple of weeks ago at Crewe that football is always there to knock you down," He told the official site.

"We don't want another Crewe experience on Tuesday night so I'll be taking a stronger team to Southend.

"Although I've got a couple of nice young players in the reserves they are definitely too young for this situation.

"Cup games have that sudden-death thrust about them and you can be knocked out in a second."

Southend's boss Steve Tilson is pleased by the fact some of United's bigger names are in the squad.

"I honestly hope they put out a good side," he said. "I'd love to see Rooney and Rio Ferdinand come down, it would be great for the people of Southend to watch them play.

"I'm sure he'll rest a few, and that might give us a bit more of a chance. We've got an opportunity to put in a good performance and it would be great to get into the last eight. We can't worry about them, we can only worry about our own performance. I think they'll be happy with the pitch, but other than that it might be a bit of a culture shock.

"I'm sure they have been to more daunting places than Southend. We've got nothing to lose and everything to gain. It's a good distraction from the league and it's a fantastic draw for us. It's not often you get to play United. I never played against them myself - the biggest club I ever played against was Tottenham."