Scholes stays on his toes

Paul Scholes will be hoping to build - and improve - on his first full match since early October when United face Arsenal this weekend.

His 90 minutes against Manchester City may not have yielded the right result for the Reds, but for Scholes it was another important step as he returns to the peak of his powers. Now he'll be hoping for another start, by seeing off his many rivals for a midfield berth.

Scholes told MUTV: "There are so many options in there now - Michael, Owen, Anderson, Fletcher, O’Shea and Giggsy.

"I think that has to be good for your game. You go into matches knowing that if you don’t play well, there’s always somebody waiting to take your place. We all have to keep our performance level up to get picked for the next game."

The range of midfield personnel at Sir Alex Ferguson's disposal is impressive - as Scholes says, "If we do lose one or two players, it doesn’t make any difference." But he couldn't separate the current crop from any previous set of midfield masters he's been part of.

“It's hard to say (whether this is our best midfield). I think we’ve always had competition, like when Nicky (Butt), Roy (Keane) and (Juan Sebastian) Veron were all here. They were all top midfielders and it was hard to get into the team. I think it’s the same now.

"Any two from six could play and you’d still have the same outcome."