Former Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson admits he spoke to David Moyes after their defeat at Liverpool.

Ferguson also gave a vote of confidence to Moyes' early weeks as his successor, revealing how he rang him after his only defeat so far at Liverpool.

"The Liverpool game was agony," he said.

"I spoke to David after the game and I told him that we had gone there 20-odd times over the years and we'd played worse than that and won games there. And I can't believe the criticism of United in that game.

"I thought David was right - they did play well. Yeah, maybe they could have done with a goal, but in the context of my experience going to Liverpool - they hardly got into our box.

"So I was a bit frustrated by that game - I thought we deserved more. But they won well against Palace, which was a difficult game. Many times over the years teams have come to park the bus across the penalty box like that and they were very difficult to break down."