United today announced the signing of 18-year old midfielder Danny Rose from Manchester United, initially on a one-month loan deal. Rose has been captain of the Red Devils' reserves and under-18 sides, and he goes straight into United's squad to face Morecambe after training with the first team today.

Rose has yet to feature for the Man Utd first team, but he arrives with a good reputation as a ball-playing midfielder. He also possesses a mean tackle, apparently, which will please the laydeez. According to Radio Oxford, United are going to further strengthen the squad with a couple more players coming in during the January transfer window. The money to fund this allegedly comes from a windfall following Dexter Blackstock's [@player]Blackstock, Dexter[/@player]transfer from Southampton to QPR.

Less good news is that Steve Basham has been ruled out for up to a month, following a scan on the knee that he injured at Exeter on New Year's Day. Apparently he snapped a tendon, which sounds very painful. In other news, United's home game against Rushden & Diamonds is to feature on Sky, and as a result the match will now be played on the evening of Monday 29 January. Hopefully it will be more entertaining than Wednesday's turgid bore, when Gravesend won 2-0 at Grays Athletic to move up to third, six points behind United, level with York and Burton.