Fergie: We were lucky to lose 1-0

A visibly upset Sir Alex Ferguson admitted Manchester United were 'lucky' to lose only 1-0 in the first leg of their Carling Cup semi-final with Derby.

Ferguson left Rooney and Ronaldo on the bench as young Darron Gibson and Danny Welbeck were given the nod, but they are absolutely ineffective United Kris Commons after 30 minutes and the impressive strike.

The chief defended his younger players and pledged to keep faith with them in the second stage (January 20), but it was clearly annoyed with the more established talents like Carlos Tevez, Nani, Nemanja Vidic and Paul Scholes.

"The positive is that it only lost 1-0," Ferguson told Sky Sports. "It's a fantastic result for us tonight, taking into account the performance.

"We could have allowed four goals. It's a fantastic result for us, now we're going to Old Trafford - which is the difference.

"We will persevere with young players from the second stage, they deserve to be out there because they were our best players tonight. I thought Gibson was one of the best players, not just Welbeck get any service and it is unfair to judge.

"We were lucky only to lose 1-0. In a semifinal of the Cup you always need a little luck and we had some tonight."

Acting manager David Lowe Derby will retire from his post with a match-winning record as one-hand the reins to new boss Nigel Clough, but paid tribute to his heroic Derby players.

"That was hard work, enthusiasm, and when we were playing some decent ball.

"I told the guys in the locker room" the only people who think you can win this football game is people in this costume. "

"To be fair to the guys who turned out to be a lot of people wrong and now they need to take shape in the league."(source: setanta)