Alex Ferguson today insisted there is "no problem" in the Manchester United camp despite the dressing-room incident that left David Beckham with a cut above his eye.
Ferguson has admitted he kicked a boot across the changing room following Saturday's 2-0 FA Cup defeat by Arsenal at Old Trafford. He was adamant that he and his players must put the incident behind them.
Ferguson said today that Beckham, who was hit in the face by the boot, did not have stitches in the wound. "Contrary to reports, David Beckham did not have two stitches - it was a graze which was dealt with by the doctor," said Ferguson today.
"There is no problem and we move on. That is all there is to say."
Ferguson said it had been "a freakish incident".
"First and foremost I have to stress that in 29 years as a manager and a coach, whatever happens in the dressing room remains sacrosanct.
"There is no way I would betray the trust of the players however much benefit there may be. It never works that way, loyalty is 100 per cent - never any less than that.
The United manager said: "The publicity it has created? The only reaction I have to that is that it was a freakish incident. If I tried it 100 or a million times it couldn't happen again. If it did I would have carried on playing!"