Youngsters Pass Stern Test

Sir Alex Ferguson was delighted with how his young players reacted to being thrown in at the deep end against Manchester City.

With the Reds trailing by two goals at the interval, the Boss threw Tom Cleverley, Phil Jones and Jonny Evans on as subsitutes, joining fellow youngsters David De Gea and Danny Welbeck in an inexperienced line-up.

Having watched an effervescent display overturn the scoreline and snatch a dramatic victory, Sir Alex beamed as he addressed the nation's media.

"It was a great performance," he said. "We were the better team in the first half. But they are a big, strong physical team and set-piece play was something we had to concern ourselves with and obviously they have scored from it. It was against the run of play but goals change games and the second looked to me as though it was the killer.

"We were always going to make changes. I wanted to expose Jones, Evans and Cleverley to a situation like today. It was a big challenge and they have done well. We are confident in this group of players.

"The addition of Jones and De Gea give us a good future. Those two are outstanding. Ashley Young is 26. You could say he is a mature player because he has been at Aston Villa for a few years he is new to the type of challenge he is getting from United.

"For us it just confirms what I thought about the squad. People have been saying we are not the best United squad. But you have to remember we have a lot of young players, who will improve. We brought Cleverley back from Wigan. We brought Welbeck back and Diouf. These boys are good players. The addition of Jones and De Gea gives us a good future."

But, despite singing the youngsters' praises, the Boss remains realistic about his expectations of them ahead of what promises to be an ultra competitive domestic season.

"I trust them and have confidence in the ability of the players," he said. "But you can never be confident in the Premier League. It is such a difficult league. Six teams could be challenging for the title. You know by the very experience of going through league campaigns how difficult it is. It will be difficult next season."