ALEX FERGUSON has admitted he made a mistake by not naming Dimitar Berbatov among the substitutes for last night’s Champions League draw with Rangers.

The in-form Berbatov was given the night off – as were the likes of Nemanja Vidic, Nani and Paul Scholes – and were not named in United’s 18-strong matchday squad, as Ferguson made a whopping ten changes to the United side that leaked two late goals to Everton in Saturday’s 3-3 draw.

The largely second-string United outfit, however, were simply unable to find a way through the blanket defence offered by their visitors, with Wayne Rooney and Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernandez starved of possession – especially after Antonio Valencia’s horrible injury saw him stretchered off.

Ferguson had opted to include Michael Owen and Federico Macheda on the bench instead of the in-form Bulgarian, and conceded afterwards that he regretted not including Berbatov in his plans.

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“We wanted to see how Javier Hernandez would do in a full game,” Ferguson said. “Because of that, we left Berbatov out and his form has been absolutely fantastic.

“His ability to create in tight situations would have made a difference,” he added.

The Scotsman insisted that he had no alternative but to leave Berbatov out as he needed to “find out about one or two players” during a crowded phase of the season – with Liverpool visiting in the Premier League this weekend.

“But seven or eight of them played against Chelsea in the Community Shield, so we weren’t short of players we needed to win the game. There were plenty of good players on the pitch.

“I don’t know if playing anyone else would have made any difference. They were well organised and defended so deep, it was difficult to open them up at all.”