MANCHESTER United may welcome back Paul Scholes for Blackburn Rovers' Carling Cup trip to Old Trafford tonight.

Scholes has been out since September because of knee ligament damage and was not expected back for a couple more weeks but may now return on the bench against Rovers.

In his programme notes, United boss Sir Alex Ferguson said: "Although we are now into the quarter-finals, I intend to stay with the young ones who have got us this far.

“Players like Jonny Evans, Rafael, Darron Gibson, Rodrigo Possebon and Danny Welbeck (will all be involved).

"But I also have Paul Scholes in mind. He is on the verge of playing again following his knee injury and operation. He is training well and is chomping at the bit to get started.

“So a place on the bench with perhaps a few minutes’ pitch time could be good for him. We’ll see how things go."