Fergie: I Should Have Played Valencia Against Burnley

Like at Burnley a few days before, Manchester United were struggling to break Wigan down on Saturday and went in to half time with a 0-0 scoreline.

Ten minutes after the restart Antonio Valencia was on the ball and whipped in an inch-perfect cross to Wayne Rooney’s head, which he buried in the back of the net.

Sir Alex Ferguson has today conceded that we probably could have done with Valencia starting against Burnley.

“We see the potential in Antonio, particularly in the training sessions,” said Ferguson. “He has good stuff to work with. He is quick and he is balanced. He is tough and is a good crosser of the ball. He has areas in which he has to develop and we have an idea how to go about that. The lad has a chance. Some players have come to the club and taken to it like a duck to water, some need time. He will be all right. We maybe should have picked Antonio at Turf Moor. I had the Wigan game in mind for him. You don’t know how they handle Saturday-Wednesday- Saturday-Wednesday at this club. It is a different kettle of fish. Because he was a new player into that we decided to leave him out at Burnley.”