Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson was ready to unleash according to him the brightest talent from the United academy against Bury in the upcoming FA cup tie – Keith Gillespie. Ryan Giggs was still struggling with a foot injury that saw him miss the premier league clash at Stamford Bridge and he had not yet fully recovered from it. There were also other doubts with regards to the fitness of Paul Ince and Andrei Kanchelskis.