UNITED landed yet another piece of Wembley silverware - then announced their intention of keeping their Premier League title by lining up Carlos Tevez for the first match of the season.

The new Reds striker, who has moved to Old Trafford on a two-year arrangement with the two companies which own him, can play his way into Sir Alex Ferguson's opening day team against Reading with a sharp display against either Dunfermline or Glentoran on Wednesday night.

Ferguson, who had just seen his troops exact Cup Final revenge on Chelsea by lifting the Community Shield, admits he has not yet decided at which game Tevez will pull on the Red shirt for the first time, but said: "Carlos trained with us on Friday and Saturday and did particularly well. He still has a bit to do but he will play either in Belfast or Dunfermline, and after that it is difficult to say. We will have to wait until Wednesday and see how he is.

"But we were surprised at how well he did on Friday, because he looked quite sharp. It would be nice to think we could have him for the Reading game, but if not maybe the following week."

Ferguson is eager to pair the Argentinian star with Wayne Rooney and dismisses suggestions the two players are too similar.

"I can see him and Wayne clicking quickly. There are opinions that the two of them are almost identical, but I don't think they are - apart from the fact they have similar physiques, both are two-footed and quickish, and both can beat a man," he said.

"When they get playing with each other they will get an understanding about where each other plays.

"Carlos now has the experience of being in the Premier League for nearly a year, and he has shown he can be one of the top strikers in the world.

Handful

"He has something exceptional and we experienced it in that last game of last season at Old Trafford, when he was a real handful."

Now the saga over who `owns' the player is seemingly over, Ferguson says he is not sure whether the affair had any effect on the player:

"When it dragged on you do get frustrated but there was never a moment when we felt we weren't going to get him. I don't know how Carlos felt about it, but we were confident.

"We did everything right and took a lot of legal advice on the matter, but the real problem was between the League and West Ham."

Ferguson sounded less than confident that Gabriel Heinze would turn up for training today after being on Copa America duty with Argentina.

The defender has been agitating for a move to rivals Liverpool, something which Ferguson insists he will not allow to happen - although he would be happy to sell him for £6.9m to a Continental team.

Last week the manager appeared hopeful of talking the player round, and was leaving the door open for him to stay at United by saying he would have face-to-face discussions, but it now appears that the situation may have deteriorated.

"We will see what happens," he said. "I hope he turns up...he has been instructed to turn up."

As the Reds picked up their first silverware of the season, Ferguson was quick to pay tribute to Edwin van der Sar who brilliantly shut out spot-kicks from Claudio Pizarro, Frank Lampard and Shaun Wright-Phillips.

"His experience came through," said the manager. "He has studied penalties, particularly those of Lampard, and it has got us a result.

"But the game was not a great gauge because both teams were missing players. There was not much between the two, especially in possession, but we created the better chances and maybe deserved it for that."

Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho, who refused to discuss injured players John Terry, Michael Ballack, Arjen Robben and Salomon Kalou, begged to differ.

"We didn't deserve to lose because we controlled the game, not for 10, 15 or 20 minutes but for 90 minutes," he said.

Do you expect Tevez to have an immediate impact? Have your say.