Man United title bid starts in Durban

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Anderson holds off Rio Ferdinand, left, during Manchester Uniteds training session at Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban last night.

Even without several of their big names, Manchester United can be expected to deliver a top-drawer performance when they kick off the MTN Football Invitational friendly tour match against AmaZulu at the Moses Mabhida Stadium tonight (8pm).

The travelling party are without some of their regulars due to injury and international commitments at the recently concluded Euro 2012 and upcoming Olympics.

They include striker Wayne Rooney, midfielder Ashley Young and defender Phil Jones.

In any case, pre-season is used to test some of the rising stars and new signings.

Off-season recruit from Germany’s Borussia Dortmund, Japanese midfielder Shinji Kagawa, is set to make an appearance alongside veterans like Paul Scholes and Rio Ferdinand, and a few players promoted from the United reserve team.

“Kagawa had a very good season the previous season, but the second season tells you more, and of course he had a fantastic season at Dortmund,” said United manager Alex Ferguson.

“He’s quick, intelligent, has a good goal-scoring record, tremendous work rate and is conscientious. Experienced players are the priority, but younger players will also get game time. Kagawa will start, with Chicharito, (Robert) Brady and (Jesse) Lingard. We obviously want to recover the (Premier League) title. That’s the target – priority number one is to win the title.”

In AmaZulu they face a side whose domestic sights are more modest – to finish in the top four and annex one cup.

They finished seventh last term for a rare top-eight spot. The second-oldest club in the PSL – Bidvest Wits are older – celebrate their 80th anniversary this year and aim to use this challenge against the visitors to push towards their season’s goal.

Coach Roger Palmgren has his own “Kagawa” in Liberian international, midfielder Dulee Johnson, who is set to make his debut appearance after| arriving from Sweden.

AmaZulu should be the fitter side after four weeks of training, while United are two weeks into pre-season.

United end the SA leg of their tour against Ajax Cape Town on Saturday afternoon before tackling clubs in China, Norway, Sweden and Germany.

After every tour of SA the English giants have returned home to be crowned league champions.

As on previous visits when they met Soweto giants Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates, Ferguson expected a tough outing.

“Whenever we’ve come back there’s been improvement. There’s always difficult games and we expect that again. AmaZulu will be more motivated to play us on such a special day as Mandela’s birthday,” Ferguson said when he addressed the media yesterday.

The match will be screened live on SABC 1 at 8pm.