Paul Scholes does not want Sir Alex Ferguson to give him the sympathy vote should Manchester United reach the final of the UEFA Champions League.

 Scholes, along with Roy Keane, missed out on United's famous 1999 triumph over Bayern Munich in Barcelona as the pair were suspended.

 Should The Red Devils reach the final this time around, Scholes wants to merit his place in the side based on form and not because he sat out their remarkable late success 10 years ago.

 "If we get there, I want to be there on my merit. I don't want a sympathy vote," Scholes told the Daily Mirror.

 "If I'm not playing well, the manager's not going to say, 'You missed the final 10 years ago, go and play for 10 minutes'. I wouldn't read too much into that one.

 "I think whether you've missed a chance or not, it's a massive tournament for everybody involved, even players like Milan's Paolo Maldini who've won it five times."