Ferguson delighted with midfield line-up

Alex Ferguson is adamant his injury-hit midfield is capable of meeting the challenges which lie ahead.

Ferguson revealed on Wednesday not only did his pursuit of Owen Hargreaves go right down to the wire, he also had a renewed deadline-day bid for Marcos Senna rejected by Villarreal.

The twin transfer attack suggested the Manchester United boss believes his engine room still needed stoking up and an apparent lack of depth has only got worse following injuries that will keep Ryan Giggs and Park Ji-Sung out for four weeks and three months respectively.

However, after Paul Scholes’ superb display against Celtic in midweek and Michael Carrick’s encouraging start to his Red Devils career, Ferguson is convinced his first-choice midfield is up there with the best and he has some very able deputies offering useful back up.

“We would have been delighted to get Owen Hargreaves and Marcos Senna but I still believe we are very capable in the middle of the park,” Ferguson said on the eve of United’s Premiership encounter with Arsenal at Old Trafford.

“We have Carrick and Scholes, Giggs and Darren Fletcher. I am not disappointed with that. They could handle most games no problem.”

Ferguson forgot to mention John O’Shea, who has proved his worth in central midfield already this term after excelling in the role alongside Giggs at the end of last season.

Nevertheless, neither Scholes nor Carrick boast the combative qualities of Roy Keane and Patrick Vieira, whose personal duel was such a feature of United’s clashes with the Gunners down the years.

“Roy Keane against Patrick Vieira was an incredible competition between two titans of the game,” said Ferguson.

“It was a great competition for years. I used to enjoy it and I think both players enjoyed it too.

“Historically, our matches against Arsenal have always been feisty. When you have clubs with such great histories, who have been competing against each other for titles for so long, I don’t think you can avoid that. What you want is to make sure the games are being played fairly.”

A home win would extend United’s advantage over Arsenal to an incredible 13 points. Although Arsene Wenger’s men would have a game in hand, it is an amazing statistic so soon into a new campaign.

However, Ferguson, who is likely to recall Cristiano Ronaldo after his one-match European suspension, is too experienced to write the Londoners off just yet.

“We cannot underestimate Arsenal,” he said. “They are in a transitional period because they have lost big names like Vieira, Dennis Bergkamp, Robert Pires and Ashley Cole but we will have to play to the best of our capabilities to beat them, there is no question about that.”