• Premier League

Fergie bemoans loss of 'terrible' goals

Blackburn manager Steve Kean paid tribute to his young players after the "massive" 3-2 win over Manchester United at Old Trafford moved them off the bottom of the Premier League.

Yakubu scored twice before Dimitar Berbatov's double brought United level, but Grant Hanley netted the winner to ruin Sir Alex Ferguson's 70th birthday celebrations and under-fire manager Kean celebrated the win by praising his young team.

Kean said: "This result's massive. To come here with such a young side and win it can be a real springboard for us to go and kick on."

Kean added on ESPN: "We got a very good point at Anfield and considering we have such a very young team the lads are growing up."

Kean has put his faith in younger players, with several who played in the 1-1 draw against Liverpool and the win over United having come through the club's youth system, but it was Yakubu who drew the most praise from his manager.

Kean added: "He's on fire, the Yak. Everywhere he's been in his career, if you give him good service, he's a goalscorer."

Yakubu paid tribute to his team-mates, saying: "Look at the way we played today. We fought for each other, we gave everything. Give credit to the manager - he was under pressure coming here to Old Trafford and to get three points."

Hanley added about his goal: "It's not sunk in yet. I think we deserved it (the win) in the end really."

Ferguson blamed the defeat on poor defending for Blackburn's second and third goals. He said: "We never expected that. We've lost two terrible goals in the game, and we can't do that in a game like this."

Ferguson praised a resilient Blackburn side, adding on ESPN: "They've defended for their lives."

The United manager said his players had struggled on a heavy pitch. "I think they found the speed of the pitch not so good. It was really heavy rain all week and it made the pitch really boggy."

Ferguson said when United got back to 2-2 he thought they would take the victory. "I thought at that point we were set to win it," he said. "We've got injuries at the moment but we had to take a gamble on Anderson's fitness. He did his best."

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