Ferguson is reluctant to break up winning team

Reputation will not be enough to earn some of Manchester United's superstars a first-team place; Sir Alex Ferguson does not sees the need to change a winning team.

United head to Blackburn today seeking a ninth successive victory, their longest winning streak since the 1996 Double-winning campaign, and their run, which includes victories over Newcastle, Liverpool, Arsenal, Deportivo La Coruña and Chelsea, has been achieved largely without three of the most influential players in Ferguson's squad.

David Beckham made just two brief substitute appearances before starting the Worthington Cup triumph over Chelsea on Tuesday, while neither Roy Keane nor Rio Ferdinand has played at all.

"It is fair to say the team who has been winning these matches would not be my first choice but the situation has changed now," Ferguson said. "The recent form has been terrific and we are going into this game in a great frame of mind. The job the players have done means I don't need to change the team. It is difficult to say what my best team is now – the goalposts have moved a little bit."

After an encouraging reserve-team appearance against Newcastle on Thursday, Keane is likely to be on the bench against Graeme Souness's men, with Ferdinand in line for a 28 December return to face Birmingham if he comes through first-team training this week without suffering any twinges in his knee.

However, while it only seems to be a matter of time before Keane takes Phil Neville's place in central midfield, Ferdinand faces a tough task trying to oust Wes Brown and Mikaël Silvestre from their central defensive slots despite his £29.3m fee.

While a succession of injuries have prevented the England international being at his best since his move from Leeds last summer, Brown is approaching top form after three injury-ravaged seasons and Silvestre has been a revelation since switching positions with John O'Shea during a hasty tactical reshuffle against Basle in Switzerland last month. With O'Shea looking equally adept on the left-hand side, United's rearguard has a stability it has been lacking for 18 months and, after a run of five games without conceding a goal, go into today's encounter trying to extend that sequence to six for the first time since 1992.

"The thing about Mikaël is you always tend to use him as a left-back because he has that left foot, that drive and pace," Ferguson said. "Then you see his performances at centre-back and without question he can play there with no problem at all. He is getting better as he gets older. All Wes needs is a bit of luck and pray the Lord he gets it. I think we all know the ability the boy has got as a centre-back. He is a natural defender."

With a patched-up midfield also performing equal heroics, even Beckham is not an automatic choice in today's starting line-up now Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has recovered from the minor niggle which kept him out of the midweek victory. "He has been a revelation," the United manager added. "With Ole's thinking and movement, he has been brilliant. But I want tough choices about who to leave out. I have been waiting for this situation for months."