Boss: It's Unbelievable

Sir Alex Ferguson admits United's unbelievable character transformed an entertaining game at Southampton, while paying tribute to several of his stars and not just hat-trick hero Robin van Persie.

Paul Scholes, Javier Hernandez and Rio Ferdinand were also praised for their part in overturning a 2-1 deficit at St Mary's in the final stages as the Reds made the boss' 1,000th league game in charge of the team a winning one.

"We never give up," he told MUTV. "Of course, it's in the history books. Well done to the lads for coming back. We do that all the time at our club and I expect 10 like that a season so that's one out of the way! It's unbelievable - it really is.

"But we didn't start playing until Scholes came onto the pitch with his range of passing, his consistency of passing and his presence turned the game for us.

"I thought we had reasonable control in the first half but lost a goal to a back-post cross, something we worked on all week, but credit to Southampton as they are good at it and put us on the back foot. We got the equaliser through a fantastic goal from Robin and I thought it would give us the opportunity to get our act together in the second half.

"Credit to Southampton, they kept loading the ball forward and played some nice football in midfield. They were the better team when they went 2-1 up but, when Scholes came on, the game changed.

"Robin has got four goals in two starts, which is a great statistic, and he'll get better. Chicharito also came on and made a difference. He started stretching them with fantastic runs off the ball and I was delighted with his performance."

In terms of conceding two goals for a second successive fixture, Sir Alex is convinced his defence will improve.

"I think when you play two centre-backs regularly, you get consistent results," he added. "That's always been the case.

"This season, we had four centre-backs out and Michael Carrick played back there with Antonio Valencia at right-back. With the best will in the world, it's never going to be a perfect solution.

"Rio was back and did better in the second half. He took time to get into the game in the first half but ended up playing very well for us. Nemanja Vidic is getting there. I think if those two keep fit and we get all the centre-backs fit, it will give us a really good chance.

"In goal, it was a big decision but I thought David De Gea lost a bad goal last week. He has to learn quickly, you know. He'll be back after the international break but Anders had his first game. I thought he was a little bit nervous at points but he's a very good keeper also. I don't think it's a big issue but it's something you have to deal with."

Sir Alex was talking to MUTV and Sky Sports.