Fergie: slip-ups unacceptable
The Red Devils look to defend their manager's 100% record in FA Cup semi-finals by ousting Newcastle tomorrow knowing failure will consign their season to the dustbin.
The low point in a month of misery came in Saturday's 2-0 defeat at Norwich, which left Ferguson so annoyed he even refused an interview to MUTV.
"Saturday's loss was a terrible one to take, simply because we couldn't possibly have expected it," he said.
"We should be winning those games. But when you look at the season as a whole, we have dropped points to Norwich (3), Portsmouth (3), Fulham (2), Crystal Palace (2) and Blackburn (4), it is not something we are going to accept.
"We have done very well against the top teams, so we are left looking around for reasons why we have lost so many points to teams in the bottom half."
Startlingly, Van Nistelrooy has still to find the net since returning from an Achilles injury seven games ago.
Yet Ferguson is convinced it is only a matter of time before the man who plundered an amazing 110 goals in his first three seasons at Old Trafford finds his form again.
"We are all praying for him to score," said Ferguson. "He has been terrific in training this week."
On paper, Newcastle - tired, downcast and depleted following their UEFA Cup quarter-final exit in Lisbon - are exactly the kind of semi-final opponents a United side lacking confidence would want to encounter.
Toon boss Graeme Souness is facing an agonising selection decision over dissenting Frenchman Laurent Robert.
Souness handed teenager Charles N'Zogbia the left-sided role in Lisbon, but the youngster returned to England with a suspected fractured collar bone.
With Jermaine Jenas also injured and Kieron Dyer and Lee Bowyer suspended, Souness may be forced to think the unthinkable in a bid to inject pace and guile into his side in the shape of the enigmatic Frenchman.
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