Ferguson relief as Taylor escapes ban

Ferguson thought Taylor would be brought to account by the Football Association for charging straight through the back of Ronaldo during Wednesday's Premier League encounter. Instead, referee Steve Bennett only deemed it a yellow card offence when he watched the incident again, sparing Taylor a suspension.

"The disciplinary situation does confuse you at times," Ferguson said. "No-one is really clear about it. But in actual fact we did not want the boy suspended because now he can play against Chelsea and Arsenal."

He added: "In Newcastle's position, with the injuries they have at the moment, it would have been devastating for them to lose that player. I am not really upset about it at all."

Ferguson also agrees it has not been a good week for incidents that have involved Ronaldo, as the FIFA World Player of the Year was also harshly booked for diving during the Carling Cup final at Wembley on Sunday.

It has led to Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger claiming there is a bit of arrogance about the 24-year-old, which makes him a target.

Ferguson preferred not to get embroiled in an argument with Wenger, feeling there was some legitimacy to his comments, dismissing the suggestion 'arrogance' within a top level footballer is a bad thing.

"What Arsene said was it appears like arrogance," said Ferguson. "There is a difference and I can understand what he is saying.

"When a player expresses himself in such an entertaining way, defenders don't enjoy it. It was exactly the same when George Best was a player. It is not so much that they are prepared to do what they do, it is that they are encouraged to do it.

"That is the great asset Ronaldo holds. He has this wonderful courage. He just wants to entertain and do something good with the ball."