It is safe to say the League Cup has not been Sir Alex Ferguson's top priority in his 22 years at Old Trafford.
He has won it just twice. That's one less than Leicester City and the same as Norwich.
Yet he will take his Manchester United side to Pride Park tomorrow for a semi-final first leg against Derby County with a tingle of anticipation for another Wembley appearance in March.
No, he will not risk his top stars. There is not likely to be a Cristiano Ronaldo or a Wayne Rooney in the starting line-up.
Why would he? There is a Premier League match against Chelsea at Old Trafford on Sunday which could be a defining psychological moment in the title race.
And a Derby side, still without a manager and who struggled to dispatch Forest Green Rovers in the FA Cup on Saturday, pose no serious threat to United's reserves.
Not that Ferguson will allow even a hint of complacency.
The great thing about Ferguson is that at 67 he is still infected with the bug for winning football matches.
It spills over at times, as it did last weekend when he questioned the fairness of the Premier League's fixture list, which he claimed had militated against United in a first half of the season in which they had played more tough away matches than their rivals.
Or when he began his famous mind games earlier than usual with a dig at league leaders Liverpool, saying they will get nervous in the title run-in.
That is all part of Ferguson's non-negotiable approach to gaining an edge in every competition his team enter.
Make no mistake, Britain's greatest-ever football manager believes he can win the lot this season and eclipse the heady treble of 1999.
The Club World Cup trophy is already in the bag. They must be favourites for the League Cup. The FA Cup is down to the lottery of luck and a favourable draw but they have as good a chance as any. And the big two, the Premier League and the Champions League, are also within United's reach.
Now that would be an extraordinary quintuplet.
Could it happen? Almost certainly not, but it is possible because while Ferguson might not have the biggest squad in England, he does have the most effective.
A squad which is richly balanced with youth and the experience of Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Gary Neville. A squad bursting with game-breakers such as Ronaldo, Rooney, Dimitar Berbatov and Carlos Tevez. One, too, which is benefiting from the blossoming of Michael Carrick in midfield and the dynamic running of Nani and Anderson.
Those are the reasons United have the edge, even if the title race comes down to the wire with Liverpool in what would be a compelling clash of English football's heavyweights.
That is for the future. But back to the Carling Cup and a confusing competition which does itself no favours.
What is the point of a competition playing single knockout games up until the semi-finals and suddenly changing to a two-legged format before returning to a one-match final?
Is the football programme not congested enough without the English game's least-attractive major competition serving up matches which are surplus to requirements?
The reason, of course, is money and with Derby and Burnley reaching the latter stages this year at least the organisers can argue that the financial windfall from television rights and ticket income from two matches will benefit clubs from outside the top tier.
The main prize, meanwhile, remains Ferguson's for the taking.
He has won it just twice. That's one less than Leicester City and the same as Norwich.
Yet he will take his Manchester United side to Pride Park tomorrow for a semi-final first leg against Derby County with a tingle of anticipation for another Wembley appearance in March.
No, he will not risk his top stars. There is not likely to be a Cristiano Ronaldo or a Wayne Rooney in the starting line-up.
Why would he? There is a Premier League match against Chelsea at Old Trafford on Sunday which could be a defining psychological moment in the title race.
And a Derby side, still without a manager and who struggled to dispatch Forest Green Rovers in the FA Cup on Saturday, pose no serious threat to United's reserves.
Not that Ferguson will allow even a hint of complacency.
The great thing about Ferguson is that at 67 he is still infected with the bug for winning football matches.
It spills over at times, as it did last weekend when he questioned the fairness of the Premier League's fixture list, which he claimed had militated against United in a first half of the season in which they had played more tough away matches than their rivals.
Or when he began his famous mind games earlier than usual with a dig at league leaders Liverpool, saying they will get nervous in the title run-in.
That is all part of Ferguson's non-negotiable approach to gaining an edge in every competition his team enter.
Make no mistake, Britain's greatest-ever football manager believes he can win the lot this season and eclipse the heady treble of 1999.
The Club World Cup trophy is already in the bag. They must be favourites for the League Cup. The FA Cup is down to the lottery of luck and a favourable draw but they have as good a chance as any. And the big two, the Premier League and the Champions League, are also within United's reach.
Now that would be an extraordinary quintuplet.
Could it happen? Almost certainly not, but it is possible because while Ferguson might not have the biggest squad in England, he does have the most effective.
A squad which is richly balanced with youth and the experience of Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Gary Neville. A squad bursting with game-breakers such as Ronaldo, Rooney, Dimitar Berbatov and Carlos Tevez. One, too, which is benefiting from the blossoming of Michael Carrick in midfield and the dynamic running of Nani and Anderson.
Those are the reasons United have the edge, even if the title race comes down to the wire with Liverpool in what would be a compelling clash of English football's heavyweights.
That is for the future. But back to the Carling Cup and a confusing competition which does itself no favours.
What is the point of a competition playing single knockout games up until the semi-finals and suddenly changing to a two-legged format before returning to a one-match final?
Is the football programme not congested enough without the English game's least-attractive major competition serving up matches which are surplus to requirements?
The reason, of course, is money and with Derby and Burnley reaching the latter stages this year at least the organisers can argue that the financial windfall from television rights and ticket income from two matches will benefit clubs from outside the top tier.
The main prize, meanwhile, remains Ferguson's for the taking.
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