Christiano Ronaldo was substituted towards the end of his team's
goal-less draw at Aston Villa today having suffered a leg injury,
and it is lokking likely that he will miss Tuesday's visit to
Villareal on Tuesday night.
"His leg is in a mess. He is doubtful for Tuesday," said United
boss after the game.
With Dimitar Berabtov also looking likely to miss the Champions
League tie in Spain, after being injured in Bulgaria's 6-1
demolotion by Serbia, Ferguson may find his forward options
somewhat curtailed against Villareal.
He remained positive about his team's performance at Villa Park
today though, despite the disappointing result.
"I thought we were the better team apart from a 15-minute spell
at half-time when Villa got the ball into our box from free-kicks
and corners and caused a lot of problems," said Ferguson.
"Apart from that, we weren't in danger. I was pleased with the
effort we put in against an aggressive and determined team who
defended for their lives.
"Our possession was good and we created the chances. Wayne
Rooney and Ji-Sung Park had good chances.
"With the amount of possession we had at the end I thought
another chance must come along, but they held on."
And the Scotsman disagreed with Martin O'Neill's assessment of
the situation regarding United defender Nemanja Vidic's tugging
down of Villa forward Gabby Agbonlahor, feeling that the Serbian
defender got the ball. O'Neill felt the player should have been
sent off, even of the offence didn't warrant a penalty. Ferguson
didn't think so.
"Vidic has got the ball. The crowd can sometimes get you a
penalty, but the referee couldn't give that one. He gave plenty to
them as it was," Ferguson concluded.
Ronaldo was also seen to gesture to sections of the Villa
support near the tunnel as he came off. No comment has yet been
made about this by either club.
