Fergie confident of overcoming Potters’ challenge

Alex Ferguson is relishing the prospect of his Manchester United side facing the unique challenge presented by Stoke at Old Trafford tonight.

After Saturday’s FA Cup defeat to Liverpool, an encounter with Tony Pulis’s battlers would not normally be viewed as the ideal recovery.

Yet, in much the same way as the Red Devils tended to overcome Bolton during the era under Sam Allardyce when they managed to get under the skin of all the other big clubs, they have emerged relatively unscathed in their meetings with Stoke. A draw at the Britannia Stadium in September represented the first points dropped to the Potteries outfit since they were promoted to the Premier League in 2008.