Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has explained why he decided to drop Tim Howard in favour of Roy Carroll for Sunday's Premiership victory over Charlton Athletic.

The Scotsman claimed experience gave the Northern Ireland international the edge for selection and as it's coming up to the FA Cup Final, he wants to give both goalkeepers a chance to prove their worth.

"It's coming up to the final," said Fergie. "For Tim, it's really about experience. He plays in games for us every week and sometimes only has one save in a game to make, and that's the difficult part of being a keeper at our club"

"Roy had a spell out, which has brought him on actually. In training sessions, he's been fantastic"

Roy's experience today comes on top of Tim's lack of experience. He needs more and more games, more to do, more action, to bring him on that step because Tim is a tremendously technically gifted keeper.

"He is lightning quick, his distribution is terrific and there are lots of good parts to Tim that will come on in the years ahead."

"What I want to do is have the two of them getting football behind them and, when it comes to final day, hope I pick the right one," he added.