Ferguson plays down Kuszczak row

Sir Alex Ferguson today played down talk of a rift between goalkeepers Tomasz Kuszczak and Edwin van der Sar.

As the two United keepers fall-out, click here or click the image to see our guide to 'when team-mates attack'.

Kuszczak seemed to attack the veteran Dutchman for not offering him enough support during his time at Old Trafford, claiming he had asked Van der Sar for advice but none had been forthcoming.

As the Poland international made his comments on United's in-house television station, MUTV, it seemed a strange grievance to make.

And Ferguson confirmed anyone trying to convince themselves of a row in the Red Devils camp were misplaced.

"It is just not true," he said.

"Tomasz was cracking a joke. He was laughing when he said it.

"There is no problem between him and Edwin - maybe it is just that Polish humour doesn't translate to British humour."

Ferguson will believe it is another blatant attempt to undermine the solidity within his squad, which he maintains is strong.

The rights and wrongs of such a debate are unlikely to sway his selection for Sunday's trip to Chelsea though.

Despite his performance against CSKA Moscow on Tuesday being heavily criticised, Van der Sar is virtually certain to retain his goalkeeping berth, with either Kuszczak or Ben Foster on the bench.

Kuszczak told MUTV: "To be honest, I must say this - and Edwin doesn't like this too much for sure - but he doesn't help me too much.

"I have told him a few times already to give me some more advice because he's got more experience and got many more games under his belt.

"I say, 'You have to give me something more because I like to know what I do wrong and like to watch other people. Doing that I can take some good from the advice I get.'

"But I don't know, maybe Edwin doesn't like me. You'll have to ask him."