Sir Alex Ferguson has hinted a number of his budding Manchester United stars will go out on loan following the club's Carling Cup exit to Coventry.

The Red Devils boss had earmarked the competition for a number of squad players to garner additional first-team experience.

Ferguson has stated the likes of Gerard Pique and Danny Simpson could be utilised by the first team, leaving the likes of Jonny Evans, Chris Eagles, Lee Martin and Dong Fangzhou open to leaving.

"They've not had enough football as a team," he said on Sky Sports News. "We looked at the League Cup as an avenue for these players to play in.

"Now that's gone I think we'll have to review the situation with one or two of them going on loan, because they do need football.

"With (Gary) Neville and (Owen) Hargreaves coming back we've got a good strong squad. There'll have to be some that we have to keep.

"Pique was excellent on Wednesday. He was our best player along with Anderson. We'll probably keep Simpson as he can play both full-back positions.

"But I'm maybe looking at the rest going on loan as they need to play football."