United counting on Ronaldo
2007-12-31 09:37
Manchester - Cristiano Ronaldo has been urged to inspire Manchester United to a winning start to 2008 after being absolved of the blame for the shock 2-1 defeat at West Ham on Saturday.
Portuguese star Ronaldo missed a penalty by firing wide of goal while United led 1-0 at Upton Park against Alan Curbishley's team.
A dramatic late fightback by the home side consigned United to defeat and ultimately cost them top spot in the Premiership going into the New Year.
Sir Alex Ferguson's team have the opportunity to bounce back at home to Birmingham on New Year's Day, however, and the club's Scottish midfielder Darren Fletcher admits that United and Ronaldo have what it takes to respond in style against the struggling Midlands outfit.
Fletcher said: "To lose like we did against West Ham, late on in the game after battling so hard for most of the match, is disappointing. Ronaldo missed his penalty but that can happen and we were still in a comfortable position at 1-0 up.
"It's not Ronaldo that is to blame for the defeat, though. He has been fantastic for us and won us many games and many points this season. We were still in a winning position, so it's nothing to do with his penalty that lost us the game.
We can't wait'
"But every time you drop points or lose, you have to pick yourself up and go on another winning run. We wanted to get through the Christmas period with maximum points and put pressure on the teams below us, but unfortunately that's not happened.
"We've got to pick ourselves up for Birmingham now and get three points and go on another winning run. We can't wait for that game to come now."
England pair Wayne Rooney and Michael Carrick were both forced to miss the West Ham defeat due to a virus, but Ferguson expects both players to return against Alex McLeish's team at Old Trafford.
Ferguson said: "Wayne and Michael should be ok. Michael was taken ill during the night on Friday, the doctor attended to him on Saturday morning and he just couldn't perform. There was no way he could have taken part.
"And Wayne was ruled out on Friday, he also went down with a virus. There's little bits going down at this time of year, quite a few clubs have got it I suppose, but hopefully they'll all be ready for Tuesday."
Huge outsiders
Birmingham boss McLeish, who played under Ferguson during the United manager's hugely successful spell in charge of Aberdeen in the 1980's, faces his old mentor for the first time when he takes Birmingham to Old Trafford.
The Blues are huge outsiders to deny United victory, but in 21-year-old forward Cameron Jerome, McLeish believes he has a player capable of upsetting the champions.
He said: "Cameron's very good in the 4-5-1 system that we have played and can be very dangerous, as you've already seen.
"Didier Drogba's a different animal, he's got the full package - holding the ball up and letting Chelsea players come and support. That's the side of his game that big Cameron will be working on to improve.
He's got a hell of a lot of other attributes, though, that he's using very well."