ALEX FERGUSON has warned his players he expects a significant improvement when Manchester United play Derby County in the FA Cup tomorrow compared with their last visit to Pride Park. On that occasion United lost 1-0 in the first leg of the League Cup semi-final, with an enraged Ferguson describing it as his team’s worst performance of the season and singling out the usually reliable Paul Scholes and Nemanja Vidic for criticism.

The damage was only superficial, with United winning the second leg 4-2 at Old Trafford, but Ferguson was as angry as at any other stage this season. The manager felt his side “could have lost by four goals” and, in particular, he was disappointed by the contribution of his more experienced players in an experimental line-up.

“Maybe, in some respects, what happened is a good thing because we’ll know what to expect now,” Darren Fletcher, the midfielder, said yesterday. “We’ve played against them a couple of times and it won’t be a shock to us this time. I’m sure it’s going to be a similar type of game. They’re going to come at us at 100 miles per hour and it will be a good atmosphere but I’m sure we will be ready for them this time.”

United will, however, have to try to navigate a way into the quarter-finals without Wayne Rooney, while Derby are having a mini-revival under the management of Nigel Clough, with three wins in succession since dropping into the Championship’s relegation places.

“I’m really surprised they’re struggling,” said Fletcher. “They did well against us. They looked impressive and showed, on their day, they can raise their game and cause problems for anyone. I’m sure their manager is looking at them and saying, ‘Why can’t you perform like that in the league?’ But this is a one-off cup game and they will see it as the chance of a big scalp to knock out United.”

Rooney is still recovering from the hamstring problem that has kept him out of United’s past six games as well as England’s friendly against Spain this week. He has resumed full training but Ferguson believes it would be safer to bring him back in Wednesday’s league game against Fulham at Old Trafford and, with a Champions League tie coming up against Internazionale later this month, he is not prepared to take any risks.

“We would never jeopardise anything,” said Mike Phelan, Ferguson’s assistant. “We have numerous players in the squad that we can use and Inter Milan is always in your mind.”

Guardian Service