Aviva can prove hostile fortress, says Ferguson

A NIGHT where the scoreboard wasn’t supposed to matter but that was before Manchester United went and racked up seven goals to leave everyone with a love for the domestic game feeling a tad red-faced.

Damien Richardson had stated on Tuesday that his players would not “park the bus” and he was adamant that the margin of defeat would not have been altered to any significant degree if they had pursued such a tactic. “If any of you were under any illusions as to the test we were facing you were in a different world to the one I am. We were facing one of the best teams in world football. It wouldn’t have made any difference.

“If we harbour any ambitions to have professional football we have to take on the lessons that were starkly vivid for us this evening. The difference between Manchester United and our physical fitness was amazing.