Fergie denies Anderson and Carrick rift

Manchester United Sir Alex Ferguson has denied reports of a rift with Brazilian midfielder Anderson.

Anderson was reportedly unhappy after he was omitted from their Community Shield defeat to Chelsea at Wembley.

The former Porto man has featured in just one of United's three Premier League games, leading to speculation his days could be numbered.

However, Ferguson has denied the pair have fallen out and is not surprised to see the talk as Anderson is currently out of favour.

"There is no issue at all," said Ferguson. "What you'll find is they are not playing.

"When that happens people make an issue of it. But stuff about a dust-up with Anderson is absolute rubbish."

Michael Carrick has also found himself on the outside looking in, but Ferguson insists he is only using squad rotation.

The long-serving Red Devils boss has hinted Darron Gibson could be given a more prominent role with his game improving all the time.

"We had Fletcher and Scholes back for Wigan so it was just a matter of freshening it up," he continued.

"We are also trying to push Darron Gibson on as much as we can because the boy has improved at a fantastic rate of knots.

"There is no reason other than that."