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General Sports News

No cup regrets for Fergie

Author: Rose Young
Date: 20/04/2009

Sir Alex Ferguson claims he has no regrets over the Manchester United side he picked for Sunday's FA Cup semi-final defeat to Everton.

Ferguson made eight changes to the line-up which started last week's Champions League quarter-final against FC Porto for the Wembley date.

The likes of Danny Welbeck, Darron Gibson, Federico Macheda and Fabio da Silva managed to hold Everton to a goalless draw after 120 minutes before losing 4-2 in a penalty shoot-out, upsetting the sportsbook.

Afterwards Ferguson's team selection was criticised, but the veteran Scot claims his decision to rest the likes of first-team regulars Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, Michael Carrick, Patrice Evra, Ryan Giggs and John O'Shea was justified ahead of a hectic series of fixtures.

Meanwhile, Ferguson has confirmed that Wayne Rooney will be fit to face Portsmouth in Wednesday's crunch Premier League encounter at Old Trafford.

Elsewhere, Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has revealed that he will be without leading scorer Robin van Persie (groin) and striker Emmanuel Adebayor (hamstring) for Tuesday night's trip to Liverpool.

The Football Association has accepted that the much-maligned Wembley playing surface requires improvement following a weekend of criticism from unhappy managers.

Ferguson and Wenger were scathing of the conditions under foot at the national stadium following Manchester United and Arsenal's FA Cup semi-finals defeats.

Wenger branded the pitch "laughable" while Ferguson called it "dead" and claimed he had altered his starting line-up to avoid key players picking up injuries at a vital point of the season.

In rugby union, Sale Sharks have been deducted one point in the Guinness Premiership and fined 5,000 for fielding an unregistered player.

Sale have been punished for naming hooker David Ward in their matchday squad for the clash with Harlequins late last month.

Ward had previously been on loan at Manchester and had not been formally re-registered by the Edgeley Park club.

Meanwhile, Gloucester have signed versatile Fiji back Seru Rabeni on a three-year contract from Guinness Premiership rivals Leicester Tigers.

The 30-year-old had been with Leicester for five years, but feels that the time is right for a new challenge.

In the world of rugby league, Castleford Tigers have allayed fears concerning Joe Westerman, after revealing the teenager suffered no serious injury against St Helens on Sunday.

Play was held up for ten minutes in the Tigers' 68-22 Super League defeat at The Jungle after the 19-year-old loose forward suffered a series of on-field fits.

Sebastian Vettel believes Red Bull can dominate Formula One this season after he and team-mate Mark Webber finished first and second at Sunday's rain-affected Chinese Grand Prix.

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