Sir Alex Ferguson

SIR Alex Ferguson praised the courage of Cristiano Ronaldo after the winger earned United three points at Derby.

The double footballer of the year’s 76th minute strike was enough to secure victory against relegation-doomed County.

Fergie said: “The name of the game is to win and we have to thank Cristiano Ronaldo once again for his goal, which was fantastic because it wasn’t easy.

“It was a really good finish and probably our hardest chance because we had a lot of tremendous chances.

“You’ve got to admire the boy’s courage, which is beyond question.

“I don’t how many fouls he had today, but he had three in the first seven minutes last week.

“He’s got the courage to get up and get on with it.”

Fergie also praised United’s travelling fans who he said were his side’s best player on the day.

And while he was impressed with Derby’s response to their 6-1 defeat to Chelsea in midweek, he felt United made life hard on themselves.

“After Derby were thrashed Paul Jewell did a fantastic job getting the confidence back and the effort that they put in," he said. "But in the first 25 minutes we should have been four or five up.

“We’ve got three points and we are pleased with that. Now we’ve got Bolton on Wednesday and hopefully we can win.

“The league is bubbling up nicely now and it should be a fantastic finish to the season.”