Fergie doubts Scholes England return

Sir Alex Ferguson is doubtful that Paul Scholes is interested in resurrecting his England career.
Scholes' recent admission that he regretted turning down Fabio Capello's offer of a place at the World Cup has triggered more talk about a possible retirement U-turn by the in-form 35-year-old, who quit international football immediately after Euro 2004.
With a squad for the opening Euro 2012 qualifiers against Bulgaria and Switzerland due to be announced on Sunday, there has been some speculation that Scholes might be in it.
However, as one of the few men who knows Scholes intimately, having spent so long in the same dressing room, Ferguson would be stunned if the midfielder was in Capello's 23.
"I have no idea about England. I wouldn't have thought so," said Ferguson.
Having turned down the chance to star in South Africa, it is difficult to know why Scholes would suddenly be interested in embarking on trips to Bulgaria and Montenegro in a quest to reach the next European Championships, which will be co-hosted by Poland and the Ukraine.
It could also be argued that the player's exceptional early season form - he scored his 150th United goal at Fulham last weekend - is a direct by-product of his international retirement because he now has more time to re-charge his body.
Scholes' recent performances mean he might well be in Ferguson's side to face West Ham at Old Trafford tomorrow evening.
Wayne Rooney has recovered from the virus that forced him to sit out the Craven Cottage encounter, although with Rio Ferdinand and Anderson nearing full fitness, the United boss admits selecting his teams is becoming a problem again.
"Everyone is fit, although when you get everyone fit at this club it is a nightmare because you have 24 players all reporting and I can only pick 11," Ferguson shrugged.
"It is totally unfair. We should be allowed to pick 16 at least."
Ferdinand is not one of those under consideration to face the Hammers, although the 31-year-old has made startling progress since his manager claimed it would be the end of September before he would be available, after the freak injury he suffered in a collision with Emile Heskey on England's first day of World Cup training.
As United do have a Manchester Senior Cup tie against Oldham next Wednesday, an opportunity for Ferdinand to begin his comeback from that knee ligament injury is available.
With matches against Everton, Rangers and Liverpool to follow immediately after the international break, the central defender would be a useful man to have around, as would Anderson, who made a reserve-team appearance in midweek after completing his recovery from the cruciate knee ligament injury he suffered in February.
However, in both cases, Ferguson is wary of expecting too much too quickly.
"You need to be aware of knee ligament injuries," he said.
"At the moment everything is okay with Rio and it is the same with Anderson. But he has been out for a long time. You have to monitor his progress a lot more carefully."
Ferguson is acutely aware that after dropping two points at Fulham, United must win tomorrow to ensure they do not fall too far behind pace-setters Chelsea at such an early stage of the season.
The Red Devils chief is an admirer of Avram Grant but admits the new Hammers boss does not have an easy task turning around the fortunes of a club that is still coming to terms with the massive overspending that characterised their time under Icelandic ownership, before David Sullivan and David Gold stepped in to try and sort out the mess.
For his part, Ferguson is sorting out what he feels is a "vicious" attack on new arrival Bebe.
It had been suggested the 20-year-old had been a major disappointment since his £7million arrival from Vitoria Guimaraes and that Ferguson had made a mistake investing so much in a player he had never actually seen.
"I know he has had a couple of vicious attacks on him for why he wasn't playing in the reserve game but he was never going to be playing on Tuesday," said Ferguson.
"The boy did not deserve that.
"He is a young man trying to make his way in football. They didn't need to do that. It was a really bitter attack. Ability-wise he is excellent. He is a terrific finisher.
"We have been very impressed with that. It is just the fitness levels he needs to get to."