Neville salutes United spirit

Gary Neville felt Manchester United’s hard work and quality paid off as they shrugged off the disappointment of going down to 10 men to beat Wolves 1-0 in the third round of the Carling Cup.

Fabio was dismissed on the half-hour mark for a clumsy challenge on Michael Kightly, but a 66th-minute effort from Danny Welbeck sealed United’s progression.

Neville told Sky Sports: We fought hard. The players did really well and we were always a threat going forward, particularly from wide positions with Danny and Nani, and then when Antonio Valencia came on.

Old Trafford is a big pitch and, even if we are down to 10 men, it can be sapping on opponents.

Manager Sir Alex Ferguson was also pleased with his side’s determination after the early blow of losing Fabio.

They showed a good spirit, he said.

It was difficult playing for a full hour 1/8with 10 men3/8 because Wolves before that were good on the counter-attack and caused us problems.

After that we were disciplined.

He added: (Fabio) was unlucky, He slipped and tried to recover and as he tried to recover he brought him down.

The referee showed a red card immediately and you can’t argue.

Ferguson was impressed by Welbeck’s strike.

“The goal was fantastic,” he said.

“It was difficulty in terms of the way we had to play when we went down to 10 men.

“The goal tells you about the player. He’s earned the plaudits today.”

Welbeck added: “I don’t think it was the best performance I gave but I worked hard and to get a goal was fantastic.”