Scholes: I'm ready when needed

Paul Scholes, Manchester United's veteran midfielder, accepts he no longer has the legs to be a first-team regular for the club. Scholes, 35, is building up his fitness on the club's North American tour and looks set to get another run-out tonight against the Major League Soccer All-Stars in Houston. Along with fellow veterans Ryan Giggs and Gary Neville - who has stayed at home because of a calf injury - Scholes concedes they are given more rest now by Sir Alex Ferguson, the manager.

Scholes said: "I know that playing two or three times a week is not going to happen any more. So you just have to be ready when needed. "It is accepted, definitely, given there are that many games and at our age we have to be ready when the manager needs us. "You train every day and I did not miss a day's training last season, which was good. I managed to avoid injury. When you are at a club like this you have to be capable of doing that, especially like last season when we had that many injuries."

While United are in action in Houston, their cross-town rivals Manchester City play the Mexican side Club America in Atlanta in the penultimate match of their US tour. The big-spending club are without most of their new signings, including David Silva, the Spanish World Cup winner who has been on holiday back home in the Canary Island of Gran Canaria. The midfielder, who cost a reported £29 million (Dh163m), could make his debut against his former club Valencia a week on Saturday.

"It will be a nice start, won't it?" he told the club's website. "I enjoyed my time with Valencia so it's great that my old club could also be my first home game. I know the weather in Manchester is different than Valencia or the Canaries. But I'm coming to Manchester to play football in a great team, not for sunbathing or going to the beach." * Agencies