Louis Saha says he's grateful to Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson for his support during his injury hell.

Saha again broke down yesterday in the pre-match warm-up for United's 4-0 defeat of Wigan, but before the game he said: "The boss has rescued me for the simple fact that he kept on believing in me and showing his faith in me when I missed important game after important game.

"I know he could have let me go and it's true that the horrible spiral of injury after injury did cause tension between us.

"But just when I thought I'd never break the cycle of getting back from one injury and immediately sustaining another one, he would shore up my morale by showing his belief in me no matter how many crucial spells of the season I missed."

The French striker added: "The last 12 months have been the worst of my entire career and could have broken me.

"But I'm a much tougher man inside than people might think and, instead of going under, I decided to fight.

"It's only been for the last two months that any of my self-belief and confidence came flooding back because that was when I could jog without pain for the first time in ages.

"Now I get the chance to pay the boss and the rest of the guys back."