SOUTHAMPTON: Alex Ferguson admitted he tinkered too much with his Manchester United line-up before hailing Mexican hotshot Javier Hernandez for another face-saving strike.
United came back from a goal down to defeat third-tier Southampton 2-1 in the FA Cup fourth round on Saturday with Hernandez grabbing the winner for his second goal in two games.
The 22-year-old Mexican steered in the crucial goal, despite losing his footing in the execution, as he again proved his worth having scored in the 3-2 win at Blackpool in midweek.
“He’s only had one chance and he’s scored – one chance, one goal is a tremendous ratio,” said Ferguson.
“He has great feet in and around the box and gets his shots away quickly with hardly any backlift.
“His workrate is fantastic and he’s always on the move. We probably didn’t find enough space for him at times, but you also have to give Southampton a bit of credit too. Their defenders read things well.”
After making wholesale changes to his side for the tie, Ferguson is expected to have his first choice back-four available for tomorrow’s Premier League meeting with Aston Villa.
A number of fringe players were given a start against Southampton while there was also a debut for keeper Anders Lindegaard.
Ferguson made it clear it will be a more familiar line-up when his Premier League leaders tackle Villa as he expects Nemanja Vidic, Rio Ferdinand, Patrice Evra and Rafael da Silva all to have recovered from minor knocks.
“‘Vida’ should be all right,” said Ferguson. “Rio started running on Thursday. Hopefully, he’ll be okay by Tuesday.
“Rafael should be okay. He got the all clear (after suffering concussion) on Friday. So we should have our back-four back.”
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