Manchester United record another gigantic loss and Ferguson accuses Bolton as title mind games hot up

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Sir Alex Ferguson has accused Bolton's players of undermining the integrity of the Barclays Premier League after claiming they have spent 'all week celebrating' their likely escape from relegation.

In a clear attempt to make them put in a committed performance at Chelsea on what promises to be a dramatic last day of the season, the Manchester United manager has pointed to a night out Bolton's players had on Monday.

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Party pooper: Ferguson rant at Bolton

Ferguson said: 'All you wonderful people in the Press have been talking about the integrity of Wigan but nobody has even mentioned Bolton. All we have seen is Wigan players saying how they will beat Manchester United on Sunday. Fine. I have no problem with that.

'But then you hear about Bolton players out all week celebrating. Both teams are safe but one is all keyed up to play Manchester United and the other one is out celebrating.'

Bolton manager Gary Megson confirmed yesterday that Ferguson's spies had indeed spotted his players at The Living Room in central Manchester on Monday. But he insisted they were not 'celebrating' and had been out only that night and not, as Ferguson said, all week.

'The players were not celebrating,' said Megson. 'They went out together, which they have done in the past on Monday night. But since that point they have been preparing properly and I can assure Sir Alex and everybody else that we will be going into the Chelsea game as prepared as we possibly can be, and giving it everything that we possibly can.

'Wigan are safe, but we are not. We have got to make sure we retain our status.'

A heavy defeat for Bolton and huge wins for Reading and Fulham is the only way Megson's side can go down, and Ferguson clearly thinks they are in a comfort zone that will make life easy for Chelsea.

'The only thing that gives me confidence about Bolton is the manager and the assistant manager,' he said. 'I have known Archie Knox for many years, having worked with him at Manchester United and Aberdeen, and I wish he was playing on Sunday because he will not enjoy hearing about his players going out celebrating. Neither will Gary Megson when there is such an important game in the offing.'

Megson added: 'I am not at all disappointed by the comments. I spoke to Sir Alex in the week. I speak to him a lot.'

Ferguson says defender Nemanja Vidic will return against Wigan tomorrow, but thinks the best Wayne Rooney can hope for is a place on the bench after his hip injury. But he believes Rooney will be ready for the Champions League Final in Moscow.

The United manager said: 'We are going to Wigan and it doesn't matter what the Wigan and Chelsea players are saying. We are going there with a genuine chance of winning the League, supported by some fantastic fans.

'I imagine it will be half United and half Wigan and you don't often get that in the Premier League. We would normally get around 4,000 tickets but, believe me, Manchester United fans have been buying tickets all week at the Wigan end.'

Financial results show United posted a significant loss last year, have increased debt to their creditors and are yet to pay over £56million in transfer fees for players.

Accounts released this week by Red Football Joint Venture Ltd, the company set up when American businessman Malcolm Glazer bought the club three years ago, showed United posted a £58.2m loss in the year ending June 30, 2007.

The net result was an improvement on the £135.3m loss posted in the previous year as the club's revenue in 2007 rose 21 per cent to £210.1m.

However, the figures also revealed the club had borrowings of £666.7m in the year, up from £603.9m the previous year.

That took the total owed to creditors to £764m, including £56m in transfer fee instalments.

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