Fergie hails squad depth

Red Devils boss delighted with strength and depth

By James Pearson   Last updated: 4th October 2008

Sir Alex Ferguson Manchester United manager

Ferguson: Happy with options

I'm blessed with the fact that I've got a strong squad and we should cope.

Ferguson after losing three key midfielders
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Sir Alex Ferguson has hailed the strength in depth of his Manchester United squad.

The Red Devils will be without three key midfielders for their weekend trip to Blackburn, but Ferguson does not believe they will be severely weakened at Ewood Park.

Despite being deprived of Michael Carrick, Owen Hargreaves and Paul Scholes, the experienced Scottish tactician believes he has more than ample cover in the area.

John O'Shea impressed for United in their 3-0 midweek UEFA Champions League win in Aalborg and Ferguson believes the likes of Rodrigo Possebon and Darron Gibson are stars of the future.

Strong

"The squad is a very, very strong squad," he stated. "You can see that now with the players I have out at the moment, three midfielders Carrick, Hargreaves and Scholes.

"Then you see John O'Shea on Tuesday night who was excellent, along with Anderson, Giggs and Fletcher. Possebon's injured at the moment and there's also young Darron Gibson. I'm blessed with the fact that I've got a strong squad and we should cope.

"The form is getting better. You can see that. There was some good football played on Tuesday night. It's not easy to win easily away from home in Europe, but we won easily on Tuesday night and that's a good sign to see."

Ferguson goes head-to-head with former United captain Paul Ince on Saturday and he believes the ex-England international has all the attributes to succeed in the Premier League.

Done well

Ince has already had a number of issues to contend with at Ewood Park, such as the departure of David Bentley and Ferguson believes he has coped well with adversity.

"When he was a player with me he was always a determined, stubborn lad. He had that thing about him. He was a fighter on the pitch," he continued.

"I think he's taken his qualities into management. These are good qualities to have. I'm not surprised he's doing well.

"He's had to suffer a bit of change. He's had to do with losing Bentley, who was by all accounts their star player. He lost a couple of members of staff, but he's not panicked. He's done well."