Fergie ends his rift with Ferdinand

Alex Ferguson has moved to end a rift with centre-back Rio Ferdinand over the player’s decision not to wear a Kick It Out T-shirt before Saturday’s match against Stoke, despite the expressed wishes of his manager.

Ferguson was initially furious at Ferdinand’s decision to make a unilateral stand on the issue — the centre-back is said to be angry at the campaign’s lack of teeth after John Terry was banned for only four matches for racially abusing his brother Anton — but the pair have since held talks to clear the air.

Ferguson said: “We have resolved the situation, there are no lingering problems and we move on, that is the end of the matter. We will carry on with the football side of it.”