Sir Alex Ferguson believes the Reds' training camp in Saudi Arabia will be a refreshing break for the players ahead of a busy run-in to the season.

The Reds landed in the Middle East on Sunday morning having flown out after their hard-fought 2-0 victory at Reading.

The squad will be in action again on Monday night when they play a friendly against Al Hilal Club in Sami Al-Jaber's testimonial.

"It'll be a good opportunity for the players to have a little break away with some peace and quiet. And hopefully they'll get a bit of sun on their backs too," the boss told MUTV.

"It's always nice to get all the squad together and the players who joined this season like [Carlos] Tevez, Nani and Anderson will enjoy the camaraderie and get to know their team-mates even more. So it'll do us good.

"We return home on Thursday afternoon and hopefully we come back refreshed and ready to continue the challenge for honours, starting with the FA Cup game with Tottenham on Sunday."

You can watch United's friendly in Saudi live on MUTV and MUTV Online. Kick-off is at 17:00 GMT. Both channels will also have post-match interviews with Sir Alex and his players.