Neville injury takes shine off United stroll
But he is confident he has there sources to cover the for loss of the England international.
Neville suffered the injury just 10 minutes into the Red Devils’ 3-0 Champions League triumph over Debrecen in Budapest last night.
The problem will rule the 30-year-old out of England’s World Cup double-header against Wales and Northern Ireland next month, as well as United’s crucial games against Newcastle, Manchester City and Liverpool, plus their first two Champions League games.
“It was a typical groin injury you suffer on pitches like that,” said Ferguson.
“It was a soft surface which is unusual for this time of year that contributed to the problem.
“Gary’s experience is vital to us. He has been such an important player over the years for us.
“But I believe we have adequate cover. Phil Bardsley did well once he settled in tonight, Wes Brown has played there many times and so has John O’Shea, so it is not a concern.”
The loss of Neville was not the only injury blow for the United boss, who also lost goal scorer Kieran Richardson to a knee injury late on, forcing United to play the remaining 20 minutes with just 10 men.
“We do not know the extent of it, we will have a look at it again tomorrow and find out what the situation is,” said Ferguson.
Any long term injury would be bad news for Richardson who, after originally coming on at left-back as Neville’s replacement, was switched to central midfield at the interval as Bardsley was brought on.
The England Under-21 international, who impressed during a loan spell with West Brom last season, took the added responsibility with relish and thundered home a superb goal that finished off any hope the Hungarians had of staving off a second successive three-goal defeat.
Before Richardson struck United had scored twice through an unexpected source, with full-back Gabriel Heinze netting with a pair of headers either side of the interval.
“Gabriel is such a brave footballer that he is capable of scoring from set pieces,” said Ferguson.
“He is prepared to put his head there and it paid off for him tonight.
“Hopefully that will be an area of improvement for us this year. If we can get a reasonable return from set pieces over the course of the season it will make a big difference to our goal tally.”
United are now confirmed as one of the eight top seeds in today’s draw, although with the likes of Juventus, Real Betis and Udinese among the potential foes from lower down the scale, Ferguson is unconcerned about who his team are grouped with.
“It doesn’t really matter,” he said. “Over the years we have said we want this team or another but you can never get everything you want. In the end I think the best thing is to just accept it.”
Heinze has impressed most observers with the quality of his defending since arriving from Paris St Germain last summer.
The tough-tackling Argentinian has never previously been seen as a goal threat, yet he remedied that with two excellent headers either side of half-time.
Only seven days ago, United’s player of the year scored the winner in Argentina’s friendly with Hungary. Not a regular goalscorer for either club or country, Heinze responded to his reappearance at the venue by stealing in unmarked to nod home Paul Scholes’ far post free-kick from close range.
The South American presumably knows something about London buses because, after waiting so long to score, he promptly netted again within 40 minutes.
Debrecen goalkeeper Norbert Csernyanszki must have been suffering an acute sense of deja-vu as a Heinze header flashed past him a second time.
Once again, the goal came from a corner, the only differences being the delivery, which this time came from Ryan Giggs on the left, and Heinze arriving at the near post to glance into the far corner.
United could hardly claim to be worthy of such a lead, although Ferguson wasn't complaining given the vast number of chances his side failed to take last term.
Debrecen kept Edwin van der Sar busy in their search for a consolation, Tamas Sandor coming closest when he blasted against a post. But there was no way past the big Dutchman, who has now four successive clean sheets to his name, a statistic which will please Ferguson every bit as much as Heinze’s unexpected goal glut.
: Csernyanszki, Eger, Mate, Vukmir, Sandor, Dombi (Szatmari 57), Kiss, Boor (Madar 78), Halmosi, Bogdanovic (Brnovic 46), Kerekes.
: Van der Sar, Neville (Richardson 13), Heinze, Brown, Ferdinand, Ronaldo, Scholes (Bardsley 46), Fletcher (Miller 61), Giggs, Smith, van Nistelrooy.
: M Busacca (Switzerland).
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