Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has dismissed suggestions that he has lost faith in club record transfer purchase Dimitar Berbatov.

Berbatov, 29, has seen his starting opportunities at Old Trafford become limited in recent times.

The £30million Bulgarian was overlooked in favour of Wayne Rooney for Wednesday's Champions League defeat to Bayern Munich despite the England striker clearly not being 100 per cent fit following an ankle ligament injury.

Berbatov is expected to start Sunday's Premier League trip to Blackburn Rovers with Rooney definitely ruled out after aggravating his problem against the Germans.

The striker has started just 20 of United's 33 games this season but Ferguson insists the former Spurs star remains a key part of his plans.

"Yes, I trust him," said the veteran Scot."He is a good player and there is absolutely no reason why we should doubt that.

"Dimitar has done well in a lot of games recently but we prefer to play with one striker.

"When we got the man sent off on Wednesday there was no need to bring a striker on because all we were trying to do was go over the line in terms of defending."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email