Sir Alex Ferguson has once again raised the spectre of Dimitar
Berbatov heading for a knee operation.
Manchester United's record signing opened the scoring in
Saturday's 3-0 win over Burnley at Old Trafford but left the action
early.
And Ferguson confirmed the Bulgarian had reported more pain
from a knee injury which the United boss revealed only on Friday
that his £30.75million striker had vowed to battle through.
"Dimitar was feeling his knee again," confirmed Ferguson.
"He played through it today but he could have come off at
half-time.
"We will have to look at it again on Monday and see what the
situation is."
If Berbatov is forced to go for surgery it will either mean
another venture into the transfer market or even more
responsibility being placed on the shoulders of Wayne Rooney.
It would be a shame too for Ferguson, given how impressed he
was with the Bulgarian's efforts.
"He was the player who looked most like scoring today," he
said.
"A couple of shots went just by the post, he also had a
couple of headers over the bar. He had so many attempts he was
probably relieved to get one in the end."
Rooney doubled United's lead with his 16th goal of the season
before new-boy Mame Biram Diouf marked his home debut by finding
the net late on when he headed Antonio Valencia's cross past Brian
Jensen.
Yet Ferguson was honest enough to accept Burnley had spurned
two decent chances when Steven Fletcher and David Nugent failed to
find the target after finding themselves clean through when the
game was still deadlocked.
"We could have been embarrassed," he admitted.
"We had a number of opportunities to punish them in the final
third but there was a bit of nervousness and anxiety about our
game.
"You need a goal to open teams up in matches like that,
although while they will probably feel 3-0 was unfair, I didn't
believe it was too unjust."
Ferguson must now turn his attention to Tuesday's Carling Cup
semi-final first-leg trip to Manchester City.
Darren Fletcher, who was suspended this afternoon, seems
certain to start along with Ryan Giggs.
But Ferguson confirmed Darron Gibson and the Da Silva
brothers, Fabio and Rafael, will also be in contention.
New Burnley manager Brian Laws also felt Nugent's miss was
the crucial point of the game, although that will not stop him
trying to secure the services of the Portsmouth striker, who is
currently on loan at Turf Moor.
"Hopefully something will happen in the next 48 hours," said
Laws.
"The club have been trying to keep David for some time and I
know enough about him to want him to stay.
"It is a simple equation really. He either stays with us or
Portsmouth sell him. He cannot go on loan anywhere else."
Laws also revealed Fletcher had gone for an X-ray after being
forced off with an ankle injury suffered during a first-half
challenge with Antonio Valencia.
"It was a blow to lose Steven because he was really causing
them a problem," he said.
"But he got a real kick on the ankle, so he has gone for an
X-ray.
"It is just a precaution though and we will assess it again
over the next couple of days."
Berbatov troubled by knee pain
Sir Alex Ferguson has once again raised the spectre of Dimitar
Berbatov heading for a knee operation.
Manchester United's record signing opened the scoring in
Saturday's 3-0 win over Burnley at Old Trafford but left the action
early.
And Ferguson confirmed the Bulgarian had reported more pain
from a knee injury which the United boss revealed only on Friday
that his £30.75million striker had vowed to battle through.
"Dimitar was feeling his knee again," confirmed Ferguson.
"He played through it today but he could have come off at
half-time.
"We will have to look at it again on Monday and see what the
situation is."
If Berbatov is forced to go for surgery it will either mean
another venture into the transfer market or even more
responsibility being placed on the shoulders of Wayne Rooney.
It would be a shame too for Ferguson, given how impressed he
was with the Bulgarian's efforts.
"He was the player who looked most like scoring today," he
said.
"A couple of shots went just by the post, he also had a
couple of headers over the bar. He had so many attempts he was
probably relieved to get one in the end."
Rooney doubled United's lead with his 16th goal of the season
before new-boy Mame Biram Diouf marked his home debut by finding
the net late on when he headed Antonio Valencia's cross past Brian
Jensen.
Yet Ferguson was honest enough to accept Burnley had spurned
two decent chances when Steven Fletcher and David Nugent failed to
find the target after finding themselves clean through when the
game was still deadlocked.
"We could have been embarrassed," he admitted.
"We had a number of opportunities to punish them in the final
third but there was a bit of nervousness and anxiety about our
game.
"You need a goal to open teams up in matches like that,
although while they will probably feel 3-0 was unfair, I didn't
believe it was too unjust."
Ferguson must now turn his attention to Tuesday's Carling Cup
semi-final first-leg trip to Manchester City.
Darren Fletcher, who was suspended this afternoon, seems
certain to start along with Ryan Giggs.
But Ferguson confirmed Darron Gibson and the Da Silva
brothers, Fabio and Rafael, will also be in contention.
New Burnley manager Brian Laws also felt Nugent's miss was
the crucial point of the game, although that will not stop him
trying to secure the services of the Portsmouth striker, who is
currently on loan at Turf Moor.
"Hopefully something will happen in the next 48 hours," said
Laws.
"The club have been trying to keep David for some time and I
know enough about him to want him to stay.
"It is a simple equation really. He either stays with us or
Portsmouth sell him. He cannot go on loan anywhere else."
Laws also revealed Fletcher had gone for an X-ray after being
forced off with an ankle injury suffered during a first-half
challenge with Antonio Valencia.
"It was a blow to lose Steven because he was really causing
them a problem," he said.
"But he got a real kick on the ankle, so he has gone for an
X-ray.
"It is just a precaution though and we will assess it again
over the next couple of days."