Ferguson vows to unleash big guns on Danish minnows

MANCHESTER UNITED manager Alex Ferguson intends to learn from past mistakes and unleash all his big guns on Aalborg tonight.

It is only two years since Manchester United last came to Denmark to tackle FC Copenhagen in the fourth game of their Champions League group.

With qualification virtually in the bag, Ferguson fielded a weakened team and promptly lost in the Danish capital. United then lost to Celtic in their next match and ultimately scraped into the last 16.

Having drawn their opening game against Villarreal at Old Trafford a fortnight ago, Ferguson knows his champions cannot afford a slip-up. So Aalborg can get ready to face Cristiano Ronaldo, Paul Scholes, Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov.

“I don’t have any fears about complacency with this side,” said Ferguson.

“But a couple of years ago we made a mistake with the team against Copenhagen because we were in a comfortable position and ended up scrapping to qualify. This time I will play my strongest team.

“The players know how important qualifying is. We need to get to February because that is when the tournament really takes off.

“If we get to that stage then we have as good a chance as anyone.”

In their compact little ground, Aalborg intend to ruffle a few United feathers. The sheer magnitude of the game has come as a surprise to home skipper Thomas Augustinussen, who confirmed he had never seen as many journalists as the throng that came to hear him speak ahead of the game.

It provides the perfect stage for Berbatov to announce his arrival as a United player.

The Bulgarian has hardly had a chance in his three games as a Red Devils since a club record £30.75million (€38.5m) switch from Tottenham.

Berbatov is convinced it will not be long before he breaks his duck and Ferguson can already see signs of the 27-year-old’s quality.

“Once the other players understand how good Dimitar is — both in terms of his movement and ability to run the line — we will get the best out of him.”

Ferguson will make changes from the side which beat Bolton with one inevitable as skipper Gary Neville has stayed at home to rest a thigh strain.

Ferguson now expects his captain to only be available for one game a week.

The position regarding Owen Hargreaves is less straightforward as the former Bayern Munich man is still troubled by a knee injury which first bothered him before his £18m (€22m) move from Germany.