Owen Hargreaves has accused Dynamo Kiev of being "afraid" during Manchester United's 4-2 win in the Ukraine, as Sir Alex Ferguson's side cruised to one of the easiest European away triumphs during the Scot's stint in charge a fortnight ago.

If United can beat Kiev in their Champions League rematch at Old Trafford on Wednesday, they will book a place in the knockout phase with two games to spare.

And Hargreaves, who is set to make his long-awaited European debut for United after finally overcoming a knee problem, can see no reason why Ferguson should not receive a perfect 21st anniversary present as manager.

"Dynamo seemed a bit afraid of us in Kiev," Hargreaves said. "It is very rare in the Champions League that you see someone pulled apart so easily and concede four goals at home.

"Normally, those type of games are very difficult but Dynamo were really quite poor, surprisingly so for that level of competition."

Oleg Luzhny, the former Arsenal defender, has taken over as manager due to the ill-health of Jozef Sabo, and Kiev will hope the move can have a galvanising effect on a team yet to register a point in Group F.

However, the fact that United will be able to include key players such as Michael Carrick, Louis Saha, Gary Neville and Hargreaves, all returning to action since the game in Kiev, only fuels the feeling they will cruise home.

"I am sure Kiev will try to redeem themselves but we are at home and we are expecting to win," said Hargreaves, who won the competition with Bayern. "That would give us 12 points and many teams have qualified for the second phase with less.

"We should go through easily and ideally we will have two games to spare as well."

Hargreaves, brought in with the stated intention of achieving another Champions League trophy, feels the Red Devils have the capability to exceed last year's semi-final berth.

"It is not about peaking now, it is about peaking towards the end of the season," he said. "Obviously, it is great to be playing well now but it is towards the end of the season that we want to be at our best and have everybody playing well.

"I am hoping to be a big part of that. These are all stepping stones to get to that phase. I have had a lot of experience at this level and I am looking forward to using it in my first season here."