Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson believes that his selection policy for the Carling Cup has helped produce the likes of Gary Neville and David Beckham.

The Red Devils manager is expected to make wholesale changes to his squad to face Crystal Palace in the Carling Cup quarter-final tonight.

While some criticise team tinkering for the domestic competition, Ferguson believes that it has served him well in the past.

"It's more than proved its worth by enabling me to give senior pitch time to players who are perhaps not quite ready for full action in the Premier League, but who need to play at the kind of level that will bridge the gap and get them there," The Mirror quotes Ferguson as saying.

"I smile when I think back to the days when I perhaps startled many people by ringing the changes - in particular I remember the fuss my selection for a League Cup tie at Port Vale provoked. Vale supporters, disappointed at the prospect of not being able to see some of our star names at their ground, took their complaints to the press and even to the House of Commons.

"What they didn't know of course was that they would be witnessing the launch of the Beckham era and we know how successful they went on to become!"

Manchester City, Liverpool and Cardiff City have all claimed a spot in the final four.