Boss: Crawley Deserved A Draw

Sir Alex Ferguson suspects that some of his players failed to understand the magnitude of the FA Cup, as the Premier League leaders just about sidled past Crawley Town and into the quarter-finals.

Wes Brown's first half header took the Reds into the last eight, but non-league Crawley dominated the second period and their efforts fully merited a replay back at the Broadfield Stadium.

"It didn't matter what the scoreline was today, it was their day - there's no question about that," the Boss told MUTV. "They deserved a draw, really, on the second half, with the effort they put in, the commitment.

"They made it very difficult for us and we were second to every ball. It's disappointing. But we had some players who maybe don't understand what FA Cup football is like. Maybe for them it's the biggest lesson.

"In the first half we played very well, played a lot of good football and could've been three or four up, but it wasn't to be and while it's only 1-0 in a cup tie, it only takes a second to lose a goal - and we nearly did.

"Sometimes you get the breaks in the cup and you struggle through one round. We've done that in the past and it was another example today."

The United manager's cause was hindered by injuries to his entire Brazilian contingent during the course of the game, prompting a change to 4-4-2 when Wayne Rooney replaced Anderson, and widespread defensive tinkering when the da Silva twins made way for Chris Smalling and makeshift right-back Darren Fletcher.

"It's a big problem, having to take your two full-backs off, when they were terrific," said Sir Alex. "They're such good footballers. And Anderson had a bit of a problem with his hamstring so we had to take these players off.

"It's not easy when you do that. It unbalances the team. We ended up having to play Darren Fletcher at right-back - he did well, but it's still not the best. We'll see how they are tomorrow."