Soccer:Sir Alex Ferguson hailed Anders Lindegaard's performance in Manchester United's Champions League draw with Benfica but promised David de Gea will return for Sunday's Premier League showdown with Chelsea.
Hesitant performances in the Community Shield and the opening league encounter at West Brom forced Ferguson to shield De Gea from criticism. At just 20, the former Atletico Madrid star was always going to need time to acclimatise to the English game.
Improvement has come already, with an outstanding performance at Bolton last Saturday coming when it had been rumoured De Gea would be left out. And Ferguson will have no hesitation in bringing De Gea back this weekend regardless of how well Lindegaard did.
“We have two great goalkeepers. We were always going to share it and David will play on Sunday against Chelsea and possibly Anders will play at Leeds next Tuesday, depending upon how we see the situation with Ben Amos, who needs some game time also.
“There are opportunities to spread the load. The English league is so frenetic. Coming into that, as a young goalkeeper, there will be times when we can give him (De Gea) a break. This was a good moment because he had a fantastic game on Saturday.
Lindegaard was pleased with his night’s work. “It was very amusing, great fun and that’s the most important part of why you play football; fun. I enjoyed it very much, it was a great night. This is why I came to United, to play these kind of games.”
Ferguson is clearly sensitive to criticism of De Gea though, judging by the way he criticised ITV post-match interviewer Kelly Cates – nee Dalglish, daughter of Liverpool boss Kenny – when she asked whether Lindegaard had given him a selection dilemma. “I don’t know why you ask these questions; you’re just looking for stupid little things,” he snapped.
