The future is bright

United's conveyor belt of young talent is in good shape, according to Reserves manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

The Reds' opulent history of producing players from within is much-fabled, but no homegrown talents have established themselves as senior regulars at Old Trafford since Darren Fletcher and John O'Shea.

Having experienced first-hand the talent within Carrington's current crop of youngsters, however, Solskjaer is adamant that the future is bright.

"There are people with first-team potential that I am working with at the moment," he told the Manchester Evening News. "United do have a history of getting players into the first team from their own ranks.

"In the last few years we've had Gerard Pique and Giuseppe Rossi come through, though they are now at other clubs. There are the likes of Darren Fletcher, John O'Shea and Wes Brown who have all come through the system, so there is a chance. It is up to every individual. It is not impossible.

"The difficulty here is you have the demand of winning almost every game at United so you cannot just put a player in to see how he is doing just because you can afford to take a chance on a particular game. It's not like that here because you have to win so they have to be ready."

Although first team openings remain few and far between given the enduring demands for success at Old Trafford, Ole is adamant that no heads have dropped among the youth ranks.

"It is no problem to keep these lads motivated," he said. "They are so positive and dedicated. They know if they are good enough they will get a chance. If not they know they will get a good career somewhere else. That is what we have said to them.

"We want to get as many as possible into the first team here, of course, that is the aim but for the rest we want to make careers for them at other clubs.

"I have had discussions with the manager about who is going to go out on loan. Maybe after one year they are ready to go somewhere else. You don't want to stay in the Reserves for three years because the boat is starting to sink and perhaps you should then be elsewhere."