With Vidic and Ferdinand injured, the Scot will give chances to Smalling and Jones after being impressed by fellow youngsters Cleverley and Welbeck at West Brom.
Manchester United's lineup will have a youthful look to it at Tottenham on Monday night, with manager Sir Alex Ferguson handing starts to Chris Smalling and Phil Jones.
"The team on Monday will be a very young defensive line-up, with Jones and Evans in the centre and Smalling at right-back," revealed the manager. "But Patrice Evra will be back for Spurs, which gives us experience.
Smalling started at right-back in last week's 2-1 win at West Brom, but the result was marred by injuries to first choice center-backs Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand. It means Jones will come in and be partnered by Jonny Evans.
"I'm not worried about the young players filling in at the back," said Ferguson. "Evans has ample experience, of course, and has been at the club since he was 12 years old. He's played plenty of first-team games.
"Phil Jones has the experience of playing for Blackburn last season in the Premier League and I thought he and Chris Smalling were the stars for England Under-21s in the summer. Chris had a fantastic first season and he's continued his progress this year."
Cleverley and Welbeck both impressed at the Hawthorns and with all of United's summer signings being under 25, Ferguson is looking to the future.
"David De Gea will learn from the experience of the games he's had so far. We'll also have [Tom] Cleverley and [Danny] Welbeck," he added. "So it's a very young team at the moment, but it's a team full of energy and it's a team of great ability. I'm enjoying watching them at the moment. I have no issues whatsoever with playing those guys. We brought in Phil Jones at 19, David De Gea at 20 and Ashley Young at 25. We're happy with the age of the squad."
"The team on Monday will be a very young defensive line-up, with Jones and Evans in the centre and Smalling at right-back," revealed the manager. "But Patrice Evra will be back for Spurs, which gives us experience.
Smalling started at right-back in last week's 2-1 win at West Brom, but the result was marred by injuries to first choice center-backs Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand. It means Jones will come in and be partnered by Jonny Evans.
"I'm not worried about the young players filling in at the back," said Ferguson. "Evans has ample experience, of course, and has been at the club since he was 12 years old. He's played plenty of first-team games.
"Phil Jones has the experience of playing for Blackburn last season in the Premier League and I thought he and Chris Smalling were the stars for England Under-21s in the summer. Chris had a fantastic first season and he's continued his progress this year."
Cleverley and Welbeck both impressed at the Hawthorns and with all of United's summer signings being under 25, Ferguson is looking to the future.
"David De Gea will learn from the experience of the games he's had so far. We'll also have [Tom] Cleverley and [Danny] Welbeck," he added. "So it's a very young team at the moment, but it's a team full of energy and it's a team of great ability. I'm enjoying watching them at the moment. I have no issues whatsoever with playing those guys. We brought in Phil Jones at 19, David De Gea at 20 and Ashley Young at 25. We're happy with the age of the squad."
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