Manchester United's John O'Shea insists Alex Ferguson would never prevent his players from representing their countries.

United trio Rio Ferdinand, Wayne Rooney and Darren Fletcher will miss this week's friendlies for their respective national teams.

Ferdinand and Rooney both sat out the Premier League champions' 5-0 win over Stoke City on Saturday and will not be involved in England's game with Germany on Wednesday.

Fletcher was forced off in the Stoke game with a knee problem and has been forced to pull out of Scotland's glamour friendly against Argentina.

The situation has led to suggestions that Ferguson wants his players to put the club first, but O'Shea is adamant that would never be the case.

"He never does," said O'Shea, who is preparing for Republic of Ireland's game with Poland, when asked if Ferguson asks players to choose.

"Obviously there's lots of pressure on club managers, but the manager always likes his players to play international football because it helps them and improves their game."