Ferguson:Tevez U-Turn Was Desperate Act By City

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has described Roberto Mancini's decision to bring back Carlos Tevez into the Manchester City side as an act of "desperation".

Sir Alex was responding to comments made by Patrick Vieira, Manchester City's football development executive, who earlier this week claimed it had been an act of desperation by United to bring Paul Scholes out of retirement.

"If it's desperation bringing back the best midfielder in Britain for the last 20 years then I think we can accept that," said Ferguson.

"If you talk about desperation, they played a player the other night who refused to go on the pitch. The manager said he'd never play again and he takes a five-month holiday in Argentina. What is that? Could that come under the description of desperation?"

"Roberto (Mancini) had a wee dig a couple of weeks back. We're all going to play our hand that way. There will be plenty of ammunition for that.

City striker Tevez recently patched up his differences with Mancini after taking unauthorised absence in Argentina. He helped City to an important 2-1 win over Chelsea in his first game back on Wednesday.

United, who currently a point clear of their neighbours at the top of the Premier League,have won eight out of nine league games since Scholes came out of retirement.