Fergie praises Wolves effort

Sir Alex Ferguson was keen to praise a weakened Wolves for their endeavour after losing 3-0 to Manchester United at Old Trafford, despite angry protests from the away supporters about Mick McCarthy's team selection

McCarthy stunned the travelling Wanderers following as Marcus Hahnemann was the only player to remain in the starting line-up in 10 changes to the team that beat Tottenham at White Hart Lane on Saturday.

And his controversial decision paved the way to their downfall as a penalty by Wayne Rooney, before goals from Nemaja Vidic and Antonio Valencia saw the visitors slip into the drop zone.

McCarthy seems certain to face a barrage of criticism over his selection but the Wolves boss' counterpart understood why he opted to rest many of his regulars at the Theatre of Dreams.

"It was a difficult night because Wolves made it very difficult for us," Ferguson, who felt Tuesday's opponents gave a good account of themselves

"They pressed every ball, they tackled everywhere and they put up a good show considering they put most of their second string out, which wasn't surprising given that they've got Burnley at the weekend.

"We took a long time to get our game going," the United boss added. "I think the changes we were making are not giving us the continuity of performance and that was reflected in the way we started.

"But once we got the goal we were comfortable enough, it ended up we could have scored more but I'm happy enough with the result."

The highlight of the night was United's third goal, which saw Valencia smash a half-volley home after some Dimitar Berbatov brilliance and Ferguson was keen to praise the duo.

"It was beautiful," said the Red Devils tactician of his side's third goal.

"It's only a player like Berbatov, with that kind of imagination and skill to do that, and it was a very good finish from Valencia and that gives him six goals now and we're pleased of that because that's the area we want him to improve and he can improve."