Fergie bemoans United defence

SIR ALEX Ferguson admitted his defence is suffering from inconsistency after Manchester United narrowly escaped a humbling at the hands of Basle.

The Swiss side led 3–2 – having come back from 2–0 down – only to see Ashley Young grab a last–minute equaliser on his Champions League debut to make it 3–3.

Basle also missed a host of other chances and Ferguson labelled his players "careless" and "lax".

He said: "There is still enough quality in the back positions – Evra and Ferdinand are very experienced. But you always like to have a back four playing consistently and we don't have that at the moment.

"It is not a problem for us because the quality we have in the forward positions guarantees us goals, and we really should have put that to bed in the first half.

"I thought there was a carelessness about us throughout the game."

United had appeared to be cruising through two goals in 80 seconds from Danny Welbeck but the Swiss side, who had missed some clear chances in the first half, stunned Old Trafford to go 3–2 up.

Two goals from Alex Frei, one from the penalty spot, and one from Fabian Frei, saw United come close to a first home defeat for 17 months.