Now Ferguson puts the verbal boot in...

Three days after accidentally kicking a football boot into the face of David Beckham, Sir Alex Ferguson added insult to the injury he had inflicted on the England captain.

While the Beckham camp was suggesting an apology was in order yesterday for the outburst in the club dressing room, the Manchester United manager refused to say sorry – and then rubbed metaphorical salt in the cut above the player's eye by describing it as no more than "a graze".

"Contrary to a lot of reports, David did not have two stitches in his head – he had no stitches," Sir Alex told a packed press conference, which might have been expecting a more contrite attitude from the Scot.

Meanwhile, Beckham stressed the "harmony" within the United camp last night as the team prepared for their match against Juventus. "The dressing-room incident was just one of those things – it's all in the past now," Beckham said.