ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE:ALEX FERGUSON has hit back at Arsene Wenger's suggestion that the Manchester United pitch was to blame for Arsenal's performance in their 1-0 defeat at Old Trafford on Monday. Ferguson believes it was a diversion tactic to take the emphasis away from the way, in his words, "we were by far the better team". The United manager is aggrieved by Wenger's remarks, believing them to be an unfair slight on the club's groundstaff.

“I don’t think the pitch had anything to do with it,” he said. “We were just the better team. The pitch was good, fine. It was a surprise to everyone that this was mentioned. I don’t think anyone can complain about our pitch.”

Wenger had spoken about the playing surface being the reason why “the technical quality of the game was very average”. He went on to describe it as “very bad”, saying it was not just uneven but “bouncy and slippery”, adding: “The pitch was so poor and the game suffered a lot from it.”

The midfielder, Jack Wilshere, followed it up on his Twitter page yesterday, saying: “The pitch was shocking. (United) wanted to stop us playing!”

Ferguson has meticulous standards when it comes to the pitch at Old Trafford and has been seen chastising the head groundsman, Tony Sinclair, on occasions when he felt it was not good enough. On this occasion, however, he feels Wenger has been unfair on Sinclair and around 110 groundstaff. The surface at Old Trafford was a source of concern to Ferguson in the 1980s and 1990s but it has not been relaid since 2003.

Although Ferguson’s irritation with the pitch comments was clear, it does not mask the club’s embarrassment that Wenger was targeted, once again, with crude chants. Ferguson had appealed to supporters via his programme notes and in several pre-match interviews to behave better, saying the Arsenal manager “deserves better, much better”.

Paul Scholes, who has missed the last three games with a groin injury, will have more tests this week to see whether he has any chance of returning for Sunday’s match against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. The early diagnosis is that it is unlikely.

Guardian Service