Boss purrs over performance

Having watched his United side make a mockery of a traditionally tricky trip to Blackburn - one made in saturated conditions to boot - Sir Alex Ferguson was delighted to notch a fourth successive victory.

The Reds ran out 2-0 winners in Saturday's early evening kick-off, and could have had a hatful more as they made mincemeat of Paul Ince's side, much to the approval of their manager.

"This is one of the most difficult grounds to come to," Sir Alex told MUTV after the match. "We’ve lost and drawn games, but today was a really emphatic performance. The confidence of the team was outstanding and everyone was on song.

"It was a really good performance, and the reason for that is that everyone’s use of the ball was spot on. The first 10 minutes was a typical Blackburn v United game, it was hammer and tongs, tackles flying in and the game never settled.

"But once we got hold of the ball we started to use it really well, and we controlled the match. The counter-attack was always on for us because once they were 1-0 down they had to gamble at some points. When they did, we capitalised on it."

Goals from Wes Brown and Wayne Rooney gave the Reds victory, while profligate finishing and Rovers 'keeper Jason Brown conspired to restrict the visitors' goal tally to just a pair. Although hard pressed to find fault in such a spectacular performance from his side, the United manager was slightly irked by their failure to score more.

"We missed a few chances today, that’s the only criticism of the team," said Sir Alex. "We had two one-v-ones in the first half, the keeper made a fantastic save from Ryan Giggs, and I don’t know how many one-v-ones we had in the second half, at least three, but it could have been a big score for us. You don’t want to miss easy chances, and we missed some easy chances today."

The majority of United's squad will now jet off around the globe to play for their respective countries, and Sir Alex is hopeful that the international break - the third of the season to date - won't prove too disruptive for his on-song side.

"We never really get settled until the internationals are all completely over," he said. "Once this is over, hopefully we’ll get back into our rhythm quickly. We’ve got West Brom at home of course, but throughout November you expect us to really get going."