Ferguson relishing Stoke test

Sir Alex Ferguson has stated that his Manchester United team are aware of the physical challenge posed by Stoke, and are ready to combat Tony Pulis’ men on Tuesday at Old Trafford.

The Red Devils suffered a setback at the weekend by being eliminated from the FA Cup by Liverpool, and are currently three points behind Manchester City in the race for the Premier League title.

Although the Scottish coach knows his team are in for a tough game against The Potters, he is looking forward to it.

“You know what Tony Pulis’ team will be like, they are the same all the time,” Ferguson told The Guardian.

“They will be 100% committed and they always get stuck in. You have to cope with that. To be honest, I always enjoy it to.

“It was like when we used to play Wimbledon. No one used to look forward to playing against them but my team started to because it was a physical challenge and in terms of taking the ball and playing football.

“Stoke are a different team altogether but they still have the same qualities of never giving in, so it is always a good challenge for us,” he stated.

United have a critical month, in which they take on Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham, and Ferguson knows that his team must be at their best to retain their Premier League crown.

“It is a big programme. From the middle of January until we go to Tottenham, it looked quite a daunting programme.

“But when you go back years ago in our title campaigns, we have always had periods of must win-games in a row and that is what we have here. It is important to keep on City’s coat-tails and hopefully come the important part of the season, we still are,” he concluded.

By Gareth McKnight