ALEX FERGUSON and his assistant, Carlos Queiroz, are facing fines from the English Football Association after being charged yesterday with improper conduct. It follows Manchester United's defeat by Portsmouth in the FA Cup quarter-finals when both men angrily criticised the referee, accusing him of showing bias in favour of their opponents.

Ferguson described Martin Atkinson as a "disgrace", declaring his performance "should not be accepted in our game", and went on to claim the referees' chief, Keith Hackett, was "not doing his job properly" and picked his "favourites" for United's matches.

Queiroz described Atkinson as a "robber" and suggested with apparent seriousness a rule should be introduced whereby referees could be replaced during games.

Nemanja Vidic will have a further round of tests today to see if he suffered knee ligament damage during Tuesday's Champions League win against Roma. He was on crutches yesterday as his knee was badly swollen and there are fears his season may be over.