Soccer/ FA Cup fifth round: Man Utd v Reading Old Trafford, 5.15pm On TV: BBC 1Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson has defended Steve Coppell's decision to send a Reading reserve team to Old Trafford for their FA Cup fifth-round match today.

Coppell, a former Cup winner with United, will again rest his top players, who have taken Reading to sixth place in the Premiership, even though a quarter-final place in the Cup is at stake.

"Steve Coppell has put the cat among the pigeons saying he's playing his reserve team, which is very, very interesting," said Ferguson. "But I can understand him. The position they are in the league gives them an outstanding chance of getting into the Uefa Cup and therefore it must colour his thinking."

Ferguson added: "He has to win the FA Cup to get real glory for Reading, whereas he'll get real glory by being fifth, sixth or seventh. That's (like) winning a trophy by being in a Uefa place.

"I think it's a realistic view, although I may be wrong in the way he's viewing it. Maybe he feels having given these players chances in the earlier rounds he's giving them a chance in the bigger games, and I think that's admirable."

Ferguson will make several changes as he looks to keep Premiership leaders United on course for a domestic double.

Wayne Rooney is suspended, while Edwin van der Sar's return from a broken nose is set to come in Tuesday's night Champions League tie away to Lille.

Meanwhile, in a week when the role of agents within the game has been brought into question by United captain Gary Neville, Ferguson has revealed he has banned one agent from the club's Carrington training complex for tapping young academy prospects.

Ferguson went public on his fears that talented youngsters are being preyed upon by unscrupulous agents aiming to make a fast buck.

The evidence comes from within, Ferguson claiming he caught the unnamed agent trying to make contact with young United players at academy games - when the attendance of parents at matches forces a relaxation of the normally ultra-tight security at Carrington.

"We had a situation recently with an agent coming to the academy and tapping up young players from 12 years of age," Ferguson recalled.

"We barred him - so he started to wait outside the academy picking out the cars of the parents, stopping them and tapping them up."

Ferguson, whose son Jason used to be a licensed agent, has spoken out against the influence of that profession in the past.

However, even though he does his best to protect his young players, he realises there is virtually no chance of stopping agents making contact with parents - particularly on away grounds.

Most of the elder members of United's academy have agents - and while the Scot agrees with Neville that football would be better off without them, he accepts it is an unrealistic hope.

Instead, he wants more scrutiny of the amount of money being paid when deals are done.

Ferguson went on to launch a scathing attack on the FA's academy system, claiming it has totally failed to produce the World Cup-winning talent which was promised.

Eight years after the academy system was introduced, the Manchester United manager claims he has identified "countless flaws", many of which are forcing top English clubs to look abroad for young talent.

Chief among them is the "travelling time" rule which permits clubs to train players who live within an hour or 90 minutes drive of their academy centre depending on their age.

Wednesday's FA Cup tie between Bolton and Arsenal at the Reebok Stadium featured just one potential England international, Kevin Nolan, among the 22 players who started the game.

Clearly, such a situation has a detrimental long-term effect on the national side's chances of progression.

Yet Ferguson does not blame either Sam Allardyce or Arsene Wenger for exploiting the present rules to their advantage.

He feels the onus is on the governing body to come up with some alternative strategy which would encourage clubs to develop more British players.

"Arsene Wenger is very strong on French football and African players. Why should he not take advantage of that?" said Ferguson. "The problem is not Arsene Wenger, the problem is the system."