Fergie joins pitch battle

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Wenger had described the pitch as a "joke" after seeing it cut up as Arsenal lost 2-1 to Chelsea in their FA Cup semi-final on Saturday. But Ferguson's actions were even more embarrassing for the Football Association as he revealed he had pulled established stars such as Paul Scholes, Dimitar Berbatov and Patrice Evra out of the starting line-up for Sunday's FA Cup semi-final defeat against Everton because of the state of what should be English football's premier playing surface.

Ferguson, who played a makeshift team of youngsters and reserves that battled to a goalless draw after extra-time before losing agonisingly 4-2 in a penalty shootout, said: "When I saw the pitch (in the Chelsea v Arsenal semi), what I didn't want was to go into extra-time with my strongest squad."

He added: "It looked spongy and dead and difficult to move the ball quickly around it. They've got all these lights around the perimeter to help the growth and the standard of the soil. But it looks dead to me.

"So we had to go with the bold decision of playing the younger ones. After all, our club is built on giving young players opportunities and they didn't disappoint.

"Once we made our mind up, I was quite enthusiastic about it. It was the right thing to do. It was good for them."

Ferguson now has to pick up his team for a crucial league match against Portsmouth on Wednesday when Darren Fletcher will be available after injury and the big guns will return, including Wayne Rooney.

Ferguson, however, insists the experience of Wembley, where he made eight changes - including adding three teenagers - to the team that beat Porto in the Champions League last Wednesday, has convinced him United have a strong enough squad to succeed in their quests for the Premier League and Champions League trophies.

He said: "The most important thing is that I now know that, in the run-in, those young players of mine can play in any game, ability-wise.

"(Danny) Welbeck and (Federico) Macheda were absolutely outstanding and that is a big plus point. We have some massive games coming up now and we have the squad to cope with it."