Tosic & De Laet left out

Sir Alex Ferguson admits leaving out Zoran Tosic and Ritchie De Laet from United’s 25-man Champions League squad wasn’t easy.

Both players impressed during pre-season but neither will be eligible to play in the group stage of the forthcoming European campaign, which begins on Tuesday with a tricky fixture in Turkey.

Some papers had suggested Tosic’s exclusion was tantamount to the end of his United career, but Sir Alex was quick to dispel any such rumours.

“It was just a numbers decision,” the manager said. “We have such a massive squad now.

“The difficulty was around what we should do with Owen Hargreaves, whether or not to put him or Zoran in the squad. The other player [who narrowly missed out] was Ritchie De Laet.

“We came down on the side of Hargreaves because, having taken the medical advice, we think he’ll be available for the last three Champions League group-stage games.”

That news, while disappointing for Tosic and De Laet, comes as a big boost for United fans, some of whom had begun to wonder if they’d ever see Hargreaves again in a red shirt.