PAUL Scholes could have been part of England's attempts to qualify for the 2006 World Cup this week - instead he has been free to focus on Manchester United's match against Wanderers.

The 29-year-old midfielder will have had the best part of two weeks without a competitive match by the time United arrive at the Reebok Stadium.

Scholes was absent when England took on Austria and Poland in their opening two World Cup qualifiers, having announced his international retirement in August.

Instead, he has had time to prepare for a trip to Bolton he hopes will be every bit as successful as his last one.

The midfielder scored United's first goal in a 2-1 win at the Reebok Stadium in January, and will be keen for a repeat performance this weekend - especially as he has yet to score for United this season.

He surprised many observers by calling time on his international career following England's exit from Euro 2004.

England coach Sven Goran Eriksson has admitted that he tried to persuade Scholes to change his mind.

But Scholes has no doubts that he was right to make his 66th England cap his last - a decision which has left him free to concentrate on Saturday's derby clash.

"There are no regrets," said Scholes. "If I'd thought for one minute I'd live to regret that decision, I wouldn't have made it in the first place."

United boss Sir Alex Ferguson explained at the time that Scholes' decision to quit international football was driven by a desire to spend more time with his family.

But the United midfielder could have been forgiven for offering several other reasons to devote himself solely to his club's cause.

He was frequently asked to play on the left side of midfield for England under Eriksson - rather than in his preferred role just behind the forwards.

He also attracted criticism from some corners of the media for his goalscoring record at international level. He hit 14 for his country, but went three years without an England goal before finding the net against Croatia at Euro 2004.

Scholes said: "Naturally I would have liked to have scored more goals for my country, but criticism has never concerned me unless it has come from people who matter.

"There was no hidden agenda to my decision to quit - I simply decided it was the right time."

Ironically, given the criticism of his international scoring record, Scholes has struggled for goals since announcing his decision to quit the England side.

His last goal in the Premiership was against Manchester City back in March - something he would love to put right this weekend.

But despite Scholes' lack of goals so far this season, Ferguson has acknowledged that United can only benefit from having such an important player free of the demands of playing for his country.

"Paul has made a great contribution to England, and I don't think he feels he's missing anything now," Ferguson said.

"I think 66 caps is beyond an average international career, he has gone out at the top and we respect his decision."