Sir Alex Thanks Backroom Staff

Sir Alex Ferguson has praised the unsung heroes of United's backroom team in dealing with a campaign that conjured its fair share of challenges to coaches and medical staff alike.

The Reds had 16 first-team players who were injured for six weeks or more throughout the 2009/10 campaign, but Sir Alex says his dedicated staff dealt with the crisis in the most professional manner he could have asked for.

"I can be proud of my medical staff and my coaching staff for the experience they’ve shown and the way they’ve dealt with the injury situation," the boss told ManUtd.com. "No matter what team we’ve put on the pitch, they’ve always been well prepared and always well motivated.

"The training sessions have always been of the high standard we look for at this club. Those things are vital in a club like ours when you’re facing situations where there are injuries time and time again."

It is remarkable that United took the title race down to the wire and ended the season with the league's tightest defence when nine players in defensive positions spent prolonged spells on the sidelines.

"You need experience to cope with that and the medical staff, coaching staff and myself have got that experience," added the boss. "We always believe that if we’ve got eleven bodies to put on the pitch, we can always win, no matter who they are. I think that’s a great testimony to the standard here."