England U21 defender Phil Jones has been told he will be a regular part of the Manchester United first-team this season.

Jones, 20, completed a £17million move to Old Trafford from Lancashire rivals Blackburn Rovers this summer.

Sir Alex Ferguson, the Red Devils manager, sees Jones and fellow U21 international Chris Smalling as the future of his defence - and he does not intend to keep them waiting.

Ferguson revealed that was Jones' one reservation about moving to the Premier League champions, but said he can expect to feature regularly.

"The area we had to work hardest with Phil was to convince him he would get enough football," said Ferguson.

"The first thing you can say is last season Nani played the most games for us, with 48. He was still 11 short of the maximum.

"No one at United is going to play the maximum number of games. Rio Ferdinand only played 29 and Nemanja Vidic missed some as well."