Ferguson keeps faith with Foster

Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson has decided against dropping Ben Foster following an erratic display by the England goalkeeper in last weekend’s derby win over Manchester City.

With United’s first-choice keeper, Edwin van der Sar, still sidelined with broken fingers, Ferguson gave Foster a vote of confidence by confirming he would start the Premier League match at Stoke on Saturday.

Tomasz Kuszczak had made a strong case for promotion above Foster in the United pecking order with a confident display and a clean sheet in the League Cup win over Wolves on Wednesday.

But Ferguson continues to regard Foster as a better long-term prospect and does not want to risk further undermining the Englishman’s confidence after he gifted City their first goal in United’s 4-3 win at Old Trafford.

“It was a good opportunity for Tomasz to play on Wednesday but Ben will play tomorrow,” Ferguson said Friday. “Ben has not had a lot of game experience but he will be OK.”

Stoke provide a tough test for any goalkeeper with their effectiveness at set-plays and the long-throws of Rory Delap requiring good command of the penalty area.

Ferguson expects van der Sar to take another three weeks to complete his recovery from breaking two fingers in a pre-season game against Bayern Munich in July.