United drop points, lose Rooney

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson expects to be without forward Wayne Rooney for around two weeks due to his hamstring problem.

The in-form England striker was a surprise omission from the squad for the away match at Stoke City, which ended in a 1-1 draw after Peter Crouch’s header levelled matters after Nani had put the Red Devils ahead in the first half.

Speaking to the BBC after the game, Ferguson said: “I think Wayne will probably be out for a couple of weeks, although we don’t yet know the full story.”

“It isn’t a serious hamstring problem but it was enough to keep him out of the match today. Michael Carrick was also injured in training yesterday so it was a nightmare session for us with Jonny Evans picking up a problem as well.”

Reflecting on the match, Sir Alex was reasonably pleased to pick up a point at the Britannia Stadium, even though it meant the end of his side’s impressive 100 percent Premier League record.

“We were faced with the challenges we expected really, we’ve been here many times and it’s always been the same,” he said.

“It is always a difficult place to come as they put you under great pressure in terms of set piece deliveries, throw-ins and corner kicks.”

“We have always handled it well here but on the Crouch goal it was the one occasion where we didn’t.”

“We are quite content. I think Stoke deserved their point, they battled hard as they always do and Tony Pulis has got a really honest team here who always make you work and although we have been pretty successful here in the past few years, today I think the result was fair.”

Stoke assistant manager Dave Kemp said it was a great result, but thought his side were unlucky not to take all three points.

“It’s a great result for us, it’s the first time we’ve ever taken anything off Manchester United,” Kemp said.

“They were the last team in the Premier League we haven’t got anything against. We’ve actually played very well on a number of occasions and didn’t get anything and today we did so we’re delighted.”

“We’re pleased we made that step forward, I thought we played very well and created a lot of chances considering we’re playing against Manchester United.”

“We kept them to a minimum- we played very well. We could have got more but we’ll accept it and move on.”