Cool Ferguson refusing to panic despite dismal start

ALEX FERGUSON retains total faith in his Manchester United squad despite a dismal start to their Premier League title defence.

United struggled to make their dominance tell in a single-goal opening-day victory over Birmingham and fared even worse at Burnley on Wednesday as Michael Carrick missed a penalty in what turned out to be a shock 1-0 defeat.

The Red Devils’ slumbers have led some to suggest Ferguson might abandon his previous intention not to make any further signings this summer and make a concerted effort to lure one of Valencia’s highly-rated duo David Villa or David Silva to Old Trafford.

Yet Ferguson insists he has had no such thoughts.

The Scot accepts his team cannot afford many more slip-ups during the opening weeks of the season.

However, he is confident his current group can pull the situation around.

“I made the point – and I am sure of it. This is a great group of players,” said Ferguson.

“Yes, we would like to score goals. Last season was our poorest goal difference for 15 years. It was an issue.

“We have to step up to the mark and I am quite confident we can do that. We will win games.”

United need the trend to begin at Wigan today.

“In a way, part of our history is that we have dropped points early in the season,” said Ferguson.

“Our starts in the last two or three years have been a bit topsy turvy. But it is not just Manchester United, it is throughout the league. You only have Tottenham and Chelsea with two wins.”

Ferguson omitted to mention both Arsenal – who visit Old Trafford next Saturday – and big-spending Manchester City have only played one game so far.

“We do not enjoy losing but it has happened before and it will happen again,” he said.

“The issue now, as it always is at this club when you have a bad defeat, is what are you going to do about it?

“The great thing is that we only have to wait four days. We can be philosophical but there is a certain reality too.

“You cannot lose too many games in this league and we have already lost one.”

Ferguson seems likely to recall Dimitar Berbatov, as well as Antonio Valencia, who is certain to feature against his former club after making the £17 million (€19.5 million) move to Old Trafford this summer.

Changes are also expected in midfield, with Darren Fletcher among those expected to be recalled, while Michael Carrick must decide whether to continue as penalty-taker after failing with his first attempt at Turf Moor, a miss that ultimately proved pivotal.

It is at the back where early-season injuries have bitten deepest though.

Nemanja Vidic, Gary Neville and Rio Ferdinand have all suffered problems, although there is good news about the former duo, both of whom are expected to start tomorrow.

However, it appears the damage Ferdinand sustained to his thigh in training last week is slightly more extensive than first thought.

Originally, Ferguson said he expected his £29.1m (€33.5m) defender to be back in action within a fortnight. Now the timescale has changed to between “three and four weeks”.

It means Ferdinand will not only miss the visit of Arsenal but almost certainly England’s friendly with Slovenia on September 5 and the crucial World Cup qualifier against Croatia at Wembley four days later.

Wigan manager Roberto Martinez, meanwhile, believes the lessons learned in the defeat to Wolves will stand his players in good stead.

After outplaying Aston Villa to win 2-0 on the opening day of the season, the Latics were caught out by a pumped-up Wolves team on Tuesday, conceding a sixth-minute goal which cost them dearly.

With United slipping to a shock defeat at Burnley 24 hours later, Martinez knows his players cannot afford to be similarly off their game against the champions.

“We will learn a lot from the Wolves game but this is a totally different scenario,” he said.

“We came in to play at home (against Wolves) with great expectations after the result at the weekend and that is something new for us.

“Physically we need to recover but also mentally. The players need to get back to the levels they need to be able to enjoy their football and perform.

“Obviously Manchester United are one of the best teams in the world and they will test us.”