Schmeichel: AIK A Key Game

Manchester United legend Peter Schmeichel believes the last fixture of the 2013 Tour presented by Aon against AIK Fotball will be a key one for David Moyes.

The new Reds boss will have the full squad at his disposal for the first time since taking over in the summer and must be starting to think about his line-up for the start of the defence of the Barclays Premier League title. Goalkeeping great Schmeichel is eagerly anticipating the new era at Old Trafford and warns that the club's rivals are waiting to pile on the pressure.

"AIK will be very fit, the Scandinavian season is ongoing at the moment and any team you play from this region will be match-fit," Schmeichel stressed to ManUtd.com. "There will be a gap in terms of skill and I expect United to be fit as well but a little off the pace in terms of how we play in pre-season.

"It’s still one of the most important games David Moyes has had. The thing is the result doesn’t matter but we as players know this is not about losing anything. These are the games where you have to start winning. In terms of the Community Shield, it’s one of those where it doesn’t matter how much we do beforehand, we are always going to go into the season under pressure.

"It doesn’t matter how well we’ve played or how much we’ve done commercially. Everyone wants to have a dig and you can see that by some clubs' activity as they are going out and dealings have been done at Manchester City and Chelsea. Arsenal are making £40million bids. We’ve never seen that before. They are looking at this as an opportunity to put pressure on the players and the manager and the club right from the word go.

"The AIK game is played more or less at UK time, when people can watch it live. We need to win this game and try and keep the pressure down and keep the media, more or less, quiet. But we know it’s not going to happen. It is something we have to accept because we are Manchester United but it doesn't help anyone."

The Treble-winner believes Moyes will have a firm plan in his mind in terms of his personnel for the opener at Swansea City by the time the Community Shield against Wigan Athletic comes around.

"I think the new manager will want to have his starting XI for the first game of the season and play that in the Community Shield," explained Schmeichel. "AIK is a nice game to have and also the last one probably for the players to stake that claim for a place in the XI.

"So it’s very, very important. This happens in pre-season every year as the players who won the Premier League finish and go off on international duty. In that respect, Manchester United are always hit more than other clubs because most of the players are internationals. They are playing well into June and everyone needs that break because you require at least four weeks off.

"It’s the end of the tour now and most players have been back for a few weeks and are coming into form. A few players have been injured. We’re expecting Wayne [Rooney] to play in Stockholm and hopefully that will put a lid on all the debate about his future."