Broken foot fears for Cleverley

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has blasted Bolton Wanderers forward Kevin Davies for a tackle on Tom Cleverley.

Cleverley suffered a suspected broken foot eight minutes into the match at the Reebok Stadium on Saturday and was replaced by Michael Carrick.

The Red Devils eventually thrashed the hosts 5-0 with Wayne Rooney scoring a hat-trick and Javier Hernandez bagging a brace.

“He may have a broken foot, it was unfortunate,” Sir Alex told BBC Sport.

“We expected it, it was a bad tackle.”

Davies was not cautioned for the incident but shortly afterwards picked up his 100th Premier League booking for felling Patrice Evra.

If the worst is realised, Cleverley can expect to be out for around three months.

Concerning the manner of the victory and the performance put in by his two forwards, the manager added: “Our counter-attack with pace up front caused them a lot of bother and it was a good start, a great start in any game.

“Wayne is in great form at the moment, he is absolutely 100 per cent fit and looking very sharp. Him and Chicharito [Hernandez] were just a handful for the opponents today.”

“Hernandez’s first goal was absolutely fantastic, his movement and speed to get to the cross was absolutely brilliant, the kind of run that we know he’s so good at and he’s a real menace to defenders.”

Rooney’s hat-trick underlined the sharp contrast between his current form and that of a year ago, when the England striker was going through a rocky period in his career.

The 25-year-old has already scored eight goals in the Premier League and two for England.

“He’s a fit lad, he’s a strong lad and he could play a game every day,” said Sir Alex.

“I think he’s starting to mature now. He’s 25 years of age and he’s in the years I always feel where a player gets better timing, better authority and he’s in better control of situations now.”

United have another away day clash coming soon, when they travel to Portugal to lock horns with Benfica in the Champions League on Wednesday.

The 69-year-old manager said he will consider his options on Sunday, as some of his players are doubts following the physical battle at the Reebok Stadium.

“We’ll see what we are like on Sunday,” he said. “Jonny Evans got a knee in the hip and it’s a bit tender, Patrice Evra got a knock on the knee.”

Sir Alex also confirmed that he will resort to using experienced heads, insisting that the younger generation in the squad would be better suited to taking on teams at Old Trafford.

“Experience is important and that is why my team might be different in Lisbon,” he told The Mail on Sunday.

“Benfica-United has a ring to it because of the history. But it’s an important game in its own right. Whoever wins gets a valuable head start in the group.

“There’s no doubt the younger players will get good experience in the Champions League this season, but the important thing is to qualify. The home games will be better for them.

“Our first home game is against Basel and the young players are capable of playing in that kind of game – but Benfica away is one you have to respect. They operate with three midfielders and we will have to look at that. It will be the hardest part for us.”