The United boss omitted a host of first-team regulars for the 2-1 defeat at Southampton as the Reds lost for the second time in eight days.

Some of those who sat out at The Dell will feature in Celtic stalwart Tom Boyd's testimonial on Tuesday, but the youngsters will get another chance to impress against Tottenham at the weekend.

Ferguson afforded the likes of David Beckham, Teddy Sheringham, Jaap Stam, Fabien Barthez and Paul Scholes leave of duty on the south coast while captain Roy Keane and Gary Neville were suspended.

The policy was made possible by his troops sealing the Premiership crown ahead of schedule and, in turn, the players are to have a rare long break this summer.

"The international players have been sitting out quite simply because they are playing into June," said Ferguson, whose side remain 11 points ahead of the pack.

"It's a good time to rest players. I am quite happy to give them a break.

"If I give them a break now and they go off and play their internationals, they will have a decent pre-season before they start next season.

"For a lot of our players it is important. I don't think Jaap Stam's had a pre-season training with us at the club.

"He's always been playing in either European Championships, the World Cup or tournaments. He is one player who will certainly benefit. Some of the English players have had much the same problem.

"What we have done in the past few years is skip the pre-season work and just brought them in when they are ready to start playing games. And we've taken our time about progressing their fitness.

"This summer will be the first time that everyone will have had a 30-day break when we start pre-season, which will be a great break for us."

It will not be United alone that have their batteries recharged, of course, with title pretenders Arsenal, Leeds and Liverpool all in the same boat.