Fergie Eyes Steady Pairing

Sir Alex Ferguson admits he may have tinkered with his strikers "too much" recently and has backed Dimitar Berbatov to rediscover his form along with Wayne Rooney.

Berbatov did not even make the bench for Manchester United's weekend win over Wigan, with Ferguson opting for youth up front in the 2-0 Old Trafford victory.

The move sparked fresh rumours of a transfer for the Bulgaria international, who has lost his way since capping a fine start to the season with a fantastic hat-trick against Liverpool.

Meanwhile, Rooney made his first appearance in a United shirt since signing a new five-year deal following his ankle injury, and the boss is planning on reuniting the pair sooner rather than later.

"We have been changing the strikers quite a lot recently and I have to accept responsibility for changing it too much," Ferguson said.

"Now we are going to have a more consistent look about our team.

"We have a lot of good young options but hopefully we can get Wayne Rooney back to his best and Dimitar is suited to playing with Wayne."

Berbatov was being hailed as the club's top striker in the early stages of the season, but below par form of late has once again brought his worth into question.

United fans have seen bursts of genius matched by bouts of underperforming since the striker's £30.75million move from Tottenham, but Ferguson maintains consistency is difficult to come across at the highest level.

"It has not taken Dimitar back to square one," Ferguson insisted. "In our game it is very difficult to play well every week.

"We are in a competitive league. The results themselves tell you something. Getting consistency of performance from front players is very difficult.

"Look around at other clubs. They are finding it much the same as us."