Ferguson: Beckham is back to his best

Ruud van Nistelrooy netted twice in Denmark as Manchester United continued their pre-season preparations with a 5-0 victory over Aarhus.

Rio Ferdinand suffered a thigh injury in training and missed the game. Sir Alex Ferguson said it was not a serious injury.

David Beckham was replaced at half-time, but Ferguson thought he was back to his best.

The other goals were scored by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Ryan Giggs and Diego Forlan, who has yet to score a competitive goal for United since his £7.5million signing in January.

Sir Alex Ferguson was not content with his side's 5-0 mauling.

He told MUTV: "We scored a few goals in the second half but I didn't think we had the form or the tempo to the game we had against Parma. We could have lost a few goals so it wasn't the greatest performance.

"They had a side that were all trying to impress because a lot of those players were looking for clubs and they were resilient and stubborn."

Ferguson had words of praise for Forlan. He said: "He made a good run for his goal and placed it nicely in the corner. I always think that scoring a goal is helpful. He impressed me immensely."

Ferguson was keen to reassure United fans over David Beckham's fitness - despite insisting over the weekend the England captain was jaded after his World Cup experiences.

He said: "He's fine. I think he's shown he's back to his best. His form has been good, he's passing is good and his fitness levels are very good."

Rio Ferdinand missed the game because he was suffering from a thigh injury but Ferguson was keen to stress the £30million man was not likely to miss any competitive action.

Ferguson said: "He got a little strain in his thigh in training and with a big game coming up there was no point."