Good Evans, says Rio

Rio Ferdinand has labelled young Reds centre-half Jonny Evans "fantastic" and claims the Northern Irishman made the right decision to stay at United, despite no guarantees of regular football.

Evans was a prime target for Sunderland last summer after impressing in the Championship during a loan spell at the Stadium of Light. But he opted to remain at Old Trafford, where Ferdinand says he's blossomed into a top-class defender.

"He's a fantastic young player," Rio Ferdinand told the Press Association. "For centre-halves it's always difficult to see the best of them at early ages. There's always a chance of them making mistakes but Jonny keeps that to a minimum.

"He's got a cool head on his shoulders. He's sat back and watched for a few years when he was younger. He went to Sunderland, did very well and they wanted to buy him, for obvious reasons.

"But he stuck to his guns, stayed here and last season he had opportunities to play. When he did so, he was fantastic."

And it wasn't just the odd Carling Cup game, either. Evans made 24 appearances in 2008/09, providing valuable cover for the established central-defensive pairing of Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic.

But Evans, a full international and one of the game's most exciting defensive prospects, could easily have been lured by regular football elsewhere had Ferdinand not offered the youngster some valuable advice.

"I spoke to him in pre-season last year in South Africa," Rio said. "He was at a stage where he wanted to play every week. He'd been doing that the season before at Sunderland and he didn't want to come back and play for the Reserves again. He wanted to play first-team football.

"It's the same argument for any young player: Do you want to go and play for mid-table team or do you want to be in the squad of a team where you're going to get chances to play in a title-winning or European Cup-winning team?

"When you look at it like that it's a bit of a no-brainer. The manager didn't want to let him go anyway, but I think Jonny came round to
thinking that it was better to be a part of the squad and play when the opportunities came."

Michael's delight at debut goal

Report by Gemma Thompson
www.manutd.com



Michael Owen was all smiles after he struck his first goal in a red shirt and ensured victory for United in Kuala Lumpur.

The 29-year-old striker made his debut in United's opening Asia Tour game as a 61st minute substitute and hit the winner five minutes from full-time, pouncing on a loose ball after Ryan Giggs had been tackled in the area.

Owen was delighted to open his account for the Reds and hopes it will be the first of many.

"It was a really nice feeling [to score]," he told MUTV. "You train for weeks in preparation for that all-important first game and to score on your debut feels great.

"It's always nice to get off the mark, not just when you join a new club but any time. I was sat chatting to Wayne [Rooney] in the dressing room afterwards and he feels the same way after getting off the mark for the season.

"It's obviously doubly good for me with it being my first goal for the club, and even though it won't really count in the grand scheme of things, it does make you feel better. Hopefully I can score a lot more."

After a bright opening period, United were made to work hard for their 3-2 victory by a determined and energetic Malaysian XI. Owen felt the team performed well in the hot conditions and expects further improvements to follow.

"It was very hot out there. We've played in these conditions before and you just have make sure you prepare properly and do the right things afterwards to recover for the next game," he explained.

"I think the fans saw a good match today and hopefully we can put in some more good performances."

Club cancels Indonesia visit

Following the explosions in Jakarta – one of which was at the hotel the team were due to stay in – and based on advice received, the Directors have informed the Indonesian FA that the Club cannot fulfil the fixture in Jakarta on the 2009 Asia tour.

We are working on a revised itinerary outside Indonesia with the promoters, and will make a further announcement when these decisions have been made.

We are deeply disappointed at not being able to visit Indonesia and thank the Indonesian FA and our fans for their support.

Our thoughts go to all those affected by the blasts.

Club statement ends.

Speaking at a press conference shortly after arriving in Kuala Lumpur, Sir Alex Ferguson said: "It was a shock. We got the news just as we landed and it’s very disappointing.

"The Indonesian FA have worked very hard to get us over there and it’s a terribly big disappointment for them. There’s no other decision we could have taken in regards to the safeguarding of our players. We feel we’ve made the right decision."

Club captain Gary Neville echoed his manager's sentiments:

"We’re all disappointed not to get the opportunity to go to Indonesia. One of the great things about playing for this club is the chance you get to play in different countries and meet our fans from around the world. The players are as disappointed as everybody else."

Strong squad for Malaysia match

Report by Adam Bostock & Gemma Thompson

Sir Alex Ferguson will have a strong squad at his disposal on Saturday, when he names the line-up for United's first Asia Tour match against Malaysian XI.

All bar two of the 22 players on board the flight from Manchester to Kuala Lumpur are full internationals, the exceptions being Brazilian left-back Fabio da Silva and Italian striker Federico Macheda.

New signing Michael Owen is in contention for his first appearance in a United shirt, having joined fellow strikers Wayne Rooney, Dimitar Berbatov and young Macheda on the plane.

Travelling squad: Edwin van der Sar, Tomasz Kuszczak, Ben Foster; Jonny Evans, Patrice Evra, Rio Ferdinand, Gary Neville, Wes Brown, John O’Shea, Fabio da Silva; Nani, Zoran Tosic, Darren Fletcher, Anderson, Darron Gibson, Paul Scholes, Michael Carrick, Ryan Giggs; Michael Owen, Dimitar Berbatov, Federico Macheda, Wayne Rooney.

Live blog: ManUtd.com's Nick Coppack is among the staff on the trip and he'll be publishing regular updates, complete with video clips and stills from his shiny new digital camera, following his arrival in Kuala Lumpur on Friday morning UK time.

Live coverage: Saturday's match (kick-off 10:30 BST) will be the first of seven pre-season games being shown live on MUTV and MUTV Online.

Message board: From the above squad, which eleven would you start with in Malaysia on Saturday? Post your team and a brief explanation on manutd.com/talkingreds.

www.manutd.com