Sir Alex: I Am In Charge

Sir Alex Ferguson was both delighted and defiant as his United team won a difficult match at the end of a difficult week.

Even though the trials and tribulations of the Wayne Rooney saga ended positively on Friday, the impact on the manager and his players on Sunday remained to be seen and Stoke City were certainly not going to adopt a merciful stance. But the Reds stood tall and decisively played some winning football under pressure after being pegged back to 1-1.

Referring to Chicharito's 85th-minute winner, Sir Alex said: "That's been a quality of this club for many many years, we never give in and actually I thought we started to play after we lost the goal, really for the first time in the match. We played like we know we can.

"It is difficult here [at Stoke], very, very difficult. You have to work hard to get the ball down on the ground and it was a very difficult game for us. We got a wee bit careless with our possession and Paul [Scholes] gave the ball away for their equalising goal. But after that we managed to up our game a bit, just enough to get us through. It was a good result."

The boss is hoping the first away win of this league campaign will be a springboard for the Reds, ahead of some mouthwatering six-pointers between now and Christmas.

"I think we have to kick on. We have to start a series of wins because we've got some really important games coming up in December with Chelsea and Arsenal within a week of each other and we've got City at their ground in the middle of November. We need to get our momentum going and this helps us."

As well as looking ahead with confidence to the near future, the boss also reacted with indignation to the sharpest barb of the past week. Sir Alex said:

"If anyone has any doubts about Alex Ferguson's ambition, there's something wrong there. I've been here 24 years and the longer I'm here, the more expectation is garnered. I'm well aware that there will be criticism when we're not doing well just as there will be praise when we're winning things. It's never going to change as far as I'm concerned.

"I'm in charge [of the squad's strength]. We know how to build teams, we've been doing it for years. And we've always had a foundation of young players who develop within the club. In three years' time you'll see a different United. We're starting to develop the young players, they're getting better and they will replace the older players as they go along."

The youngsters may have to be patient, however, after seeing Gary Neville make his 600th United appearance and Paul Scholes mix it in midfield against physical Stoke.

"People might be thinking it's Paul Scholes' last season, Gary Neville's last season and Ryan Giggs' last season, but who can say that?" said Sir Alex. "When you see Paul and Gary's performances today, I don't see any discernible differences to last season."