The Manchester United manager was watching on TV and at half-time, with the visitors in front thanks to Wayne Rooney's superb strike, he felt there was no way England would lose.

Instead, a mad four minutes turned the game on its head, leaving England on the brink of a humiliating exit at the qualifying stage and his former assistant Steve McClaren to face another barrage of intense abuse.

Ferguson is yet to phone McClaren to offer his commiserations. But, while the result may have shocked the Scot, the vitriol which followed has not.

"There is no point me making a clarion call to get everyone behind Steve McClaren," he said. "I have done that many times in the past.

"It seems that it is the nature of the business when you are England manager that unfortunately you will get crucified no matter what happens.

"I watched the game and at half-time I felt there was no way England were going to lose. I thought they were through.

"It was a surprise result to me because the first-half performance was excellent but football does sometimes bite you in a nasty way."

Ferguson did defend Rooney though, after his striker came under fire for conceding the penalty with his tug on Konstantin Zyryanov.

While TV replays showed the incident had happened outside the box, many wondered why Rooney was in the left-back slot anyway and why he felt the need to commit such an obvious offence.

"I thought Wayne was probably England's best player," said Ferguson. "But his eagerness to help the team cost him.

"It was a foul but it was not a penalty. He didn't haul him back or anything. The lad just took advantage of the situation."