"The manager realises who needs a rest. We need everyone ready for this stage." - Darren Fletcher
Darren Fletcher feels Sir Alex Ferguson did the right thing by leaving a number of senior squad members out of Sunday's FA Cup semi-final defeat to Everton.
At a stage of the season where high-pressure games continue to come thick and fast, Fletcher admits the United manager has bought some potentially vital freshness for members of his squad - even if they would have rather featured at Wembley.
"They won’t appreciate it, but deep down they’ll know it’s the best thing," Fletcher told ManUtd.com. "The manager knows what’s best, he’s had years of experience.
"The lads want to play in every game, and that’s the good thing about the squad – everyone wants to keep playing. As a player you don’t like to admit tiredness, you just want to battle through it, but the manager realises these things. He and the coaches will look at the stats and know who’s ready for a rest."
Fletcher missed Sunday's penalty shoot-out defeat through injury, but is back in contention for Wednesday's Barclays Premier League visit of Portsmouth - and the energetic midfielder admits United's squad cannot be too large for a packed run-in.
"We need everyone ready for this stage of the season now," he said. "We’re fighting for the league and the Champions League – you can’t play the same team in every game. If you did, the freshness wouldn’t be there because you play too many games.
"Nobody likes to be rested, they want to play in every game, but you do realise now that it’s part and parcel of being at United, and really of being a professional these days. It’s a squad game."
Sir Alex will inevitably freshen up his side again for tonight's visit of Portsmouth, and Fletcher - who may return after recovering from his minor hamstring injury - is prepared for a difficult encounter against a side which shocked Old Trafford last season.
"Portsmouth are quite a physical team, they’ve had a lot of changes in management and they’re just settling down now," he said. "They beat us in the FA Cup at Old Trafford last year, and we’ll have to bear that in mind.
"But we know it’s going to be difficult, because at this stage of the season teams are fighting for different things: championships, Europe and avoiding relegation – so there are no easy games."
