Alan Smith will start his first game since recovering from horrific injuries sustained at Liverpool last season when Carling Cup holders Manchester United begin the defence of their trophy at Crewe tomorrow.

With so many of his fringe players out on loan, Alex Ferguson will field more first-teamers than usual for the opening round of the competition, including Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Kieran Richardson and fit-again duo Gabriel Heinze and Mikael Silvestre.

But Ferguson still intends to offer some of his promising reserve team players a taste of first-team action with Ryan Shawcross, Kieran Lee, David Gray and Aaron Burns all expected to be involved.

Team (from): Kuszczak, Heaton, Lee, Shawcross, Brown, Silvestre, Heinze, Gray, Solskjaer, Marsh, D Jones, R Jones, O'Shea, Fletcher, Richardson, Smith, Burns.