Scholes song pleases Carrick

' presence alongside him at Manchester United and it has nothing to do with his song.

With Scholes presently sidelined by a knee injury and winding down his career anyway after coming out of retirement in January last year, Carrick has assumed ever-increasing importance for the Old Trafford outfit this season.

It was recognised by United's away support at Loftus Road on Saturday, when they hailed Carrick's passing style as being almost a replica of Scholes'.

An unassuming character by nature, Carrick's response is to claim the song "Hard to believe it is not Scholes" is delivered tongue-in-cheek.

Of more significance to the 31-year-old is the help Scholes has given him during his near seven-year stint with the Red Devils.

"Scholesy is a legend, so I don't know whether it is tongue-in-cheek but it is a nice song and I will take that," said Carrick. "It is always good to be compared to players like that.

"Paul is as good as it gets and has been throughout his career. To train alongside him and have the chance to learn every day has been something I have tried to make the most of.



"It has helped me bring my own game on whether he knows it or not and that has been a big help."




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Scholes left out of United squad

Paul Scholes has been left out of Manchester United's travelling squad for their Champions League encounter with Real Madrid. Scholes has been sidelined by a knee injury since the FA Cup win over Fulham on January 26th but did train at the club's Carrington training ground on this morning.



However, when United left for Spain for their last-16 first-leg clash, Scholes was not part of Alex Ferguson's 22-man squad.



Although Scholes was unlikely to start anyway, his absence does rob United of some valuable experience for their meeting with the nine-time trophy winners.



The positive news was that Ashley Young made the journey after recovering from his knee injury. In addition, Jonny Evans and Phil Jones have overcome the niggles that forced them to be substituted during Sunday's win over Everton.



By opting to remain in Manchester for their final training session, as they have done all season, Ferguson was aiming to keep his plans for the game secret.



It has been predicted Jones will be handed a midfield holding role, after successfully shackling Gareth Bale and Marouane Fellaini in recent weeks.



Ferguson has plenty of alternatives though, which include Tom Cleverley and Anderson, even though Michael Carrick is amongst those virtually certain to start.



Real were hardly any more forthcoming, opting to do their stretching session on the furthest pitch away from the cameras and not doing any meaningful work until after the media had left.



Former Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso is expected to be fit and did train this morning despite doubts being expressed in the Spanish media about his participation.



Local reports also suggest up to 5,000 United fans will fly in for the game, a significant number of them without tickets.



And, whilst many observers believe Real are slight favourites, it appears the Spanish media are concerned as daily newspaper Marca has depicted Wayne Rooney as 'a freckled demon' who is 'built like a barrel packed with gunpowder' and on his way to 'blow up the Bernabeu'.



Not that Rooney has any great memories of the stadium, where he had to be hauled off for his own good by Sven Goran Eriksson in 2004 as he risked a first-half red card in a friendly against Spain which was marred by racist taunts at some of the visiting players.



"I've played at the Bernabeu once before for England against Spain, but it wasn't a good experience to be honest," Rooney said on his Facebook page. "I got subbed just before half-time, and didn't really get many touches because Spain kept the ball really well.



"Hopefully this time it will go a lot better."

Paul Scholes car 'stolen'

Manchester United footballer Paul Scholes has had his car stolen after he left its engine running while defrosting the windscreen.

Police said the grey Chevrolet estate had been taken from the drive of his house in Greenfield, Oldham at around 08:00 GMT on Monday.



A police spokesman said "inquiries to locate the car are ongoing".



Scholes is understood to have the car as part of the motor company's sponsorship of the Premier League club.



The spokesman added that Greater Manchester Police had issued warnings about "ice bandits - offenders who target vehicles left outside houses, early in the morning, with the engine running while the owner returns to the house".



"Motorists may be tempted to leave their vehicle with the engine running while they go inside to stay in the warm - however, it only takes a few seconds to steal a car when keys have been left in the ignition," he said.