Ferguson admits "shock" at Coventry defeat
Sir Alex Ferguson said he was "flabbergasted" by the defeat
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Thursday, 27, Sep 2007 12:48
Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has admitted his side's unexpected exit from the Carling Cup last night came as a "big shock".
A Michael Mifsud brace sent Coventry through to the quarter-finals with a 2-0 win at Old Trafford, leaving Ferguson "flabbergasted" and his young side deflated.
But he backed his policy of resting senior players and insisted his decision to give eight players their first appearances this season had been the right one.
"You have got to do that. It wasn't a surprise to look at the team tonight and see that we had made changes. These players have to have games," he said.
"We hoped to get some of them games recently, but we've not been able to do it because I've had to keep the likes of Gerard Pique, Chris Eagles and Danny Simpson in the first-team squad. That was a problem. But this was a shock for us."
Despite his unrepentant stance, Ferguson refused to give reasons for the defeat and wrote the night off as "just a bad performance".
"That was an absolutely flabbergasting performance, I didn't expect that," he added.