Why tonight's Carling Cup tie is Man United's biggest game of the season

Published 11:30 26/10/10

Check out the teamsheet when Sir Alex Ferguson names his side for Manchester United's biggest game of the season tonight.

Yes, seriously - it's United's most important date this term because they are defending the only trophy they won in 2010.

The Carling Cup may be regarded by too many haughty managers as the fixture list's bastard offspring, a trite inconvenience cluttering up an already-crowded schedule, but it has saved, or inflated, many a reputation.

Steve McClaren landed the England job in 2006 after winning the League Cup with 'unfashionable' Middlesbrough two years earlier. And pipping Aston Villa at Wembley eight months ago gave Fergie the consolation of a token pot on the sideboard when the big prizes were being handed out in May.

Don't tell Northampton, still so giddy from their giant-killing feat at Anfield last month they have slipped to 91st in the Football League, that this is a tinpot competition as they head for Ipswich tonight.

Don't tell Brentford keeper Richard Lee his session with a hypnotist, to prepare him for the Bees' honey-trap at Birmingham, was just a load of mumbo-jumbo for an irrelevant excursion to the Midlands.

And don't tell United supporters who stay loyal to the cause when Wolves come calling at Old Trafford that the Carling Cup doesn't matter. Across the Mancunian Way, the clock is ticking towards 35 years without a trophy - thanks in no small measure to Fergie sending out the big guns in last season's two-legged semi-final with the noisy neighbours from Eastlands.

We can be reasonably confident of Mick McCarthy fielding a depleted Wolves team because he sent out a reserve side for a Premier League game at Old Trafford ten months ago and he is bound to keep his powder dry for City's visit to Molineux on Saturday.

But will Sir Alex dare to make wholesale changes, as he did against Rangers in the Champions League, and risk his second string playing like strangers again?

Too many people have already had their intelligence insulted by last week's charade over Wayne Rooney's contract for them to swallow a reserve team fixture masquerading as a proper cup tie.

As United found out earlier this year, the Carling Cup can do wonders for clubs with the foresight to take it seriously. So come on, Fergie, defend your trophy with honour - because the competition can only be enriched when you send out the big guns.

And if you don't... any takers for Northampton v Brentford in the final?

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