United play the first of their three Central League Cup games against Wigan Athletic on Tuesday afternoon, with Blackpool and Barrow to follow at home in October and November respectively.
“The lads who aren’t getting regular minutes will be involved this afternoon,” he said. “It was really clear to see at Blackburn that there were lads short on match fitness, and we need to keep working, to keep them at it.
“That’s why these games are good for us. Dylan McGeouch will be involved, he needed a full week of training, so he’s done all of that.
“He’s done some work over the weekend as well, so he’ll play and see where he goes from there.
“With the Blackburn game last week and this one today it means we’re getting valuable pitch time for everyone, which we need.
“It’s sometimes difficult to ask players to step into a League One when they haven’t been getting the competitive edge from minutes in games like this. We’re going to need everybody so we want players up to speed.
“It’s a good game against good opposition and hopefully we’ll get a step up in performance as well.”