Fergie marvels at his never-say-die squad

Published 22:30 14/03/12 By David McDonnell

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Sir Alex Ferguson has hailed the character his Manchester United squad have shown while defying the odds this season.
Fergie marvelled at the way they have overcome adversity - in particular a crippling injury list - to move a point ahead of megabucks neighbours Manchester City at the top of the Premier League with 10 games to go.
The United boss said his players have had “doors slammed in their faces” but maintained their dogged pursuit of City.
They will need a similarly heroic effort on Thursday to overturn a 3-2 deficit against Athletic Bilbao and reach the quarter-finals of the Europa League – and the boss says nothing would surprise him with this team.

“It’s a difficult tie for us,” admitted Ferguson. “Bilbao have a tremendous advantage now, winning at Old Trafford. So it’s a challenge, but it’s not one [that is] beyond us.
“Yes, there was the disappointment in the Champions League, but we still can win this game and I think the players believe that.”
Fergie prides himself on United’s ability to set precedents – although one he is obviously keen to avoid adding to the list in northern Spain is going out of Europe twice in one season.
Failing to progress from the easiest Champions League group was hard to take, but beating City to the title would be ample compensation.
And now he has his nose in front as the title race enters the fourth quarter, Fergie is confident his players can finish the job and clinch a 20th championship triumph.
“I think we’ve done really well to hang in there in the Premier League,” said the United boss.
“We’ve had some very good performances, but the biggest task has been to hang in there, no matter what the team has been.
"For instance, with Phil Jones and Chris Smalling not available [against Bilbao], that’s a door slamming in the face again. I would like to have had those two available.
“But we keep carrying on and it does point to a resilience in the team that is really admirable.
“We got a break last weekend [with City losing away to Swansea] but obviously it doesn’t really mean anything at this moment in time. But we hope we don’t slip up now.”
United take on relegation-threatened Wolves in the Premier League on Sunday and the team-sheet in Bilbao will reflect the importance of the weekend game.
With Jones, Smalling, Nani, Anderson and long-term absentees Nemanja Vidic and Darren Fletcher all missing, Sir Alex will not be able to rest as many players as he would have liked.
He added: “When you’re playing a team at the bottom of the league, you’ve got to respect the fact they’re going to fight.
“Hopefully we can get through this game without any more injuries. Our run-in on paper looks OK - but you don’t win games on paper.”
History is against United going through to Friday's draw for the Europa League's quarter-finals.
They have never overturned a first-leg deficit in European competition following a home tie, and have won just twice in Spain in 19 attempts.
Bilbao have lost just twice at home all season, and their display in Manchester suggests United will need an epic performance to win.
SirAlex agreed, saying: “Bilbao had the highest stats of any team that has played at Old Trafford in the last 10 years in terms of their distance run.”
***
ATHLETIC BILBAO v MANCHESTER UNITED: PROBABLE TEAMS
Athletic Bilbao (4-3-3): Iraizoz; Iraola, Martinez, San Jose, Aurtenetxe, Iturraspe, Susaeta, De Marcos; Herera, Llorente, Muniain
Man Utd (4-4-2): De Gea; Rafael, Ferdinand, Evans, Evra; Park, Giggs, Carrick, Young; Rooney, Hernandez
***
ATHLETIC BILBAO v MANCHESTER UNITED: FACTS & STATS
* Wayne Rooney has scored 14 goals in his last 13 appearances.
( In the European Cup in 1957, United lost the first leg 3-5 before winning 3-0 to reach the semi-final.
* In the Champions League, United have gone through once in seven ties having lost the first leg. But they did win the second leg 7-1.
* United lost their last two Euro games but have only lost three in a row once in their history.
* Bilbao have only only lost one of eight previous home ties against English opposition.
* Fernando Llorente has had more headers at goal (12) than anyone in this Europa League.

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