Manchester United great Ryan Giggs fears local young players aren't getting a chance at Premiership level.

Asked if home-grown players received the same chance as foreign youngsters to break into the top sides, Giggs said: "Not with the amount of foreign players bought in, even to the academy now at 13 or 14-years-old.

"If a manager has two 17-year-olds, one a foreign player whose family has been moved over and the other a local lad, when the Carling Cup comes around they'll most likely go with the foreign lad.

"Who's to say that the local lad wouldn't do as well? But they probably won't get the same chance. It comes back to having local players coming through.

"They know what it takes to be a United player. People like myself, Paul Scholes and Gary Neville, we realise we're setting the example for the younger players.

"The next step down from us is Rio Ferdinand, Wes Brown, John O'Shea and Darren Fletcher. We hope they can carry on the tradition of what it takes to be a Manchester United player.

"I'm biased but I think playing for United is different from playing for any other club. You have history to live up to, you have success to live up to. There's massive expectation. It's up to those players, as it has been up to us, to carry that tradition on."