Fergie denies making gesture

Updated 14.07 Mon Jan 21 2008

Keywords: riyadh, saudi arabia, sir alex ferguson, manchester united, football, sport

Sir Alex Ferguson insists he did not make an offensive gesture while celebrating Manchester United's second goal at Reading.

Ferguson was seen running down the touchline seconds after Cristiano Ronaldo scored the second goal of the match deep into injury-time, but he denied claims he was reacting to taunts from supporters.

"All I was doing was expressing my relief at winning" - Sir Alex Ferguson

He said: "All I was doing was expressing my relief at winning what was one of our hardest games of the season.

"Reading always make it tough for us. We ran so much that we clocked up more kilometres than we have in any game this season."

Ferguson has also defended the decision to play a friendly in Saudi Arabia.

The United squad flew to Riyadh immediately after the Reading match and they will not return until Thursday, three days before the FA Cup tie against Tottenham.

Reports claim United will earn £1m from a tesimonial but Ferguson insists there are good football reasons for making the trip.

He added: "It is a good opportunity for the players to have a little break with some peace and quiet.

"Hopefully they will get a bit of sun on their backs too. It is always nice to get all the squad together.

"The players who joined this season like [Carlos] Tevez, Nani and Anderson will enjoy the camaraderie and get to know their team-mates even more. So it'll do us good.

"We return home on Thursday and hopefully we come back refreshed and ready to continue the challenge for honours."