Scholes: Hoping for the best

Related links

Teams

• Manchester United

Players

• Paul Scholes

Also see

• Man Utd fixtures
• Man Utd stats
• United forum

Paul Scholes feels the international break has hindered Manchester United's domestic endeavours.

The Red Devils are set to face Liverpool in a highly-anticipated North West derby on Saturday, but both sides have seen their preparations disrupted by World Cup action.

With the majority of players set to be involved this weekend having been away with their respective countries this week, little work has been done on the training ground back home.

Scholes, one of few players not involved in the quest to reach the 2010 finals in South Africa, admits anything is now possible at Anfield as the two teams enter the game hoping for the best.

Tough

"There have been four or five of us training and that does disrupt it massively - especially when we have an early kick-off on Saturday," the veteran midfielder told MUTV.

"We (the whole group) will get an hour of training probably on Friday. Sometimes it helps and sometimes it doesn't. We will just have to wait and see on Saturday.

"It's the same for every team. Liverpool have a lot of players out, Chelsea will have every player out as well.

"These are historically tough games and whenever you play them it isn't any different. You need to play these games at some stage during the season."

Advice

Scholes' experience could prove to be vital on Merseyside this weekend, but the 33-year-old admits he has begun passing the mantle of midfield talisman onto the club's younger generation.

"It's good having the youngsters in because they can do all the running for you," he joked.

"You can just sit and pass the ball to them and off they go.

"You try to give a little bit of advice to them, but not too much. They don't need much talking to.

"I just say to them to do exactly what has got them here. The manager has seen something in them that has got them to this stage, so why stop that?"