Fergie reveals Young knock

Young: Sat out United's win over Norwich

Sir Alex Ferguson revealed he omitted Ashley Young from Saturday's win over Norwich due to a minor ankle injury.

Manchester United won 2-0 in the Old Trafford encounter, but were far from comfortable with Young sorely missed in the final third of the pitch.

Due to United's squad depth, Ferguson insists the winger was not worth risking against the Canaries and expects Young to be fit for England's Euro 2012 qualifier against Montenegro next week.

"Ashley had a little knock on his ankle and wasn't worth risking," Ferguson told Sky Sports.

"We had (Ryan) Giggs available, Ji-sung Park available, (Antonio) Valencia available - we had plenty of cover in the wide positions.

"He should be okay for England, but we'll see."

"They set their stall up pretty well, with two players sitting in front of the back four, and any system like that is always hard to break down."
Alex Ferguson on Norwich Quotes of the week

Ferguson also explained his decision to relegate first-choice goalkeeper David De Gea to the bench in favour of Danish understudy Anders Lindegaard.

He said: "David has two (upcoming) games for Spain and Anders has had no game at all for two weeks so it was a good opportunity to give him a chance."

Of the game, the United boss admits Norwich were a tough nut to crack, but insists the hosts "deserved to win," despite the number of chances created by the Canaries.

"They set their stall up pretty well, with two players sitting in front of the back four, and any system like that is always hard to break down," said Ferguson.

'Too slow'

"I thought we were far too slow with the build-up in the first half. We changed things around a little in the second.

"Every counter-attack they had they got something out of it. Their long balls up towards the centre-forward (Steve) Morison - they played off that very well.

"They hit the post and had a great chance to go 1-0 up. But that's what happens when you face counter-attacks - you have to be really clever defensively to deal with it.

"I felt we needed someone to get hold of the ball up front. Danny Welbeck did that - and he also got another goal."

The win saw United set a new record of 19 successive home wins in the Premier League, staying top of the table on goal difference ahead of Manchester City in the process.

And Ferguson reflected on another milestone reached by a team that has dropped just two points at Old Trafford since the start of last season.

"Our home record has been fantastic for two seasons now," said Ferguson.

"This was not a good performance but we were gritty and we never gave in. That is a fantastic quality to have."