Fergie : Ronaldo can handle stick

Sir Alex Ferguson has confirmed Manchester United will not be calling for any additional security to safeguard Cristiano Ronaldo this season.

Ronaldo has already been verbally abused at Oxford after being singled out following England's World Cup exit to Portugal and more of the same can be expected at Charlton and Watford this week as Manchester United embark on their first away days of the new Premiership season.

So far, the 21-year-old has shown little sign of being affected by the barracking, scoring twice at Oxford, then another in United's friendly win over Sevilla last weekend when he received huge applause from the home fans.

Ferguson expects Ronaldo to remain untroubled. And, reflecting on previous occasions when United players have been singled out for negative treatment by opposition supporters, the Scot is convinced there is no need to fear the problem turning into a physical one.

"We don't need to shield Cristiano," said Ferguson. "I don't think fans are that vicious in terms of needing security and safety. "They may boo. That is no problem. Cristiano is mentally strong, so they can boo as long as they like. "These situations are nothing new to us. We had it with Eric Cantona and David Beckham. They were burning effigies of David at West Ham immediately after the 1998 World Cup. "We navigated it and so did David and we will do the same again."

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