Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson was pleased with his young defenders Michael Keane and Scott Wootton in victory over Capital One Cup opponents Newcastle United.

Ferguson felt the youthful back four did well to cope with the threat posed by Shola Ameobi and substitute Papiss Cisse.

"They did their best," he stated. "It was difficult.

"Ameobi is a massive big lad, a handful, and Cisse has a lot of experience and is a terrific player. He's one of the best players at the club and it was a compliment to us that they did that. So I thought they handled it quite well.

"The name of the game here is to win football matches. Tonight we've given a lot of youngsters and squad players a game. If we progress, they will be involved."