MANCHESTER, England: Sir Alex Ferguson admitted he was 'flabbergasted' after two goals from Maltese striker Michael Mifsud sealed a stunning 2-0 League Cup victory for Championship outfit Coventry at Old Trafford.

Ferguson, who made eleven changes from the team which defeated Chelsea in the Premiership, called on his youngsters for the third round tie against Iain Dowie's outfit on Wednesday.

But it was a gamble that backfired spectacularly for Ferguson as Coventry became the first lower league club to win at Old Trafford since York City in 1995. And Ferguson admitted the 2006 winners could have no excuses for the shock result.

"I'm flabbergasted by our performance. It is a big shock for us all. These are young players that we have shown great hope for and trumpeted them in a loud way," he said.

"You hope that the young players will look at it and want to improve themselves. Their temperament, against a team who were ready for a cup tie, was certainly an issue in the first-half, so maybe they are not used to that kind of cup-tie football.

"One great save by their keeper led to a goal at the other end that won them the game, but that's not the way we should look at it because the other 89 minutes were disappointing.

"But we will keep giving youngsters their chances. We have been doing it for years now and these players have to have to have games.

"We have been unable to give them games recently because they have had to stay around the first-team squad due to injuries."

Coventry, hammered 4-1 by Ipswich in the Championship last Saturday, was always the most impressive team against a United side without a host of star names.

Unheralded players such as Gerard Pique, Lee Martin, Danny Simpson and Chinese forward Dong Fangzhuo all failed to produce the goods, and Coventry boss Dowie admitted that Ferguson's team selection helped his players.

"Alex put out a team that was good enough to win, but obviously not seeing players like Rooney, Ferdinand, Scholes and Vidic on the team-sheet is a benefit," said Dowie.

"To talk about players that weren't here, though, would be a travesty for Coventry City. We restricted United to very few out-and-out chances. There was one great save by our keeper, Andy Marshall, but that speaks volumes for our defence and our desire.

"To get a cleansheet at Old Trafford against United is a big thing for us and the players have really made me proud. They had players like Carrick, O'Shea, Nani and Anderson on the field from the 55th minute, so it is a very good performance for us.

"I've been here a few times as a player and a manager and gone away with a few hidings, so it's nice to come away with a win."

Mifsud has earned the nickname 'Mosquito' during his nine months at Coventry and Dowie claims that the striker can sometimes be too quick for his own good.

"Mifsud buzzes around and he can be a real pest, but he is so quick sometimes that he can be too quick for himself," he said.

"That can be a problem, but we have worked on his finishing and this will have done him good tonight."

AFP

(China Daily 09/28/2007 page19)