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| Avram Grant has expressed his disappointment with the defeat at Old Trafford, but is proud of his players' efforts and believes referee Mike Dean made some costly mistakes. Grant was speaking after he had seen midfielder John Obi Mikel dismissed with a straight red card, United score a goal in the third minute of injury time at the end of the first half, when only two had been signalled, and the home team then awarded a penalty when Louis Saha went down easily when challenged by Louis Saha. 'The referee tried his best,' Grant said. 'He made three mistakes only, the red card, the goal after time, the penalty. 'Alex Ferguson can be very happy from the referee today. He can be more than happy that Rooney wasn't sent off with a second yellow card, from the red card, the goal after additional time, the second goal,' he added. Grant, who has been in charge just three days, was satisfied with the team's efforts, and believes they stuck well to the game plan, until Mikel's dismissal upset the game's balance. 'The decisions were strange because they were all in the same game, one two, three. For me it's a little bit strange but I prefer to look at the future, and not think why or how. 'I think except the first five minutes we played well in this game. It was a good game, Man United was not better than us. Even when we played ten against eleven until they scored the goal it was an okay game. 'For us it was a game we wanted to do, and after what's happened this week, after the three games we didn't win, the most important thing was to see the spirit of the players and now we can move forward from here.' The club has since announced that we will be issuing an appeal to the Premier League over Mikel's red card. The decision will be made prior to Wednesday's game at Hull. We are now five points behind the champions, but this is not something that fazes the new man at the helm, who points to last season as an indicator that gaps can be cut. 'I remember when last year, the difference between Man U and Chelsea was 12 points, then nine and everybody said Chelsea would be champions so five points is not a problem. We were fifth place before this game, we need to win games and then to think about things. We can have a good season,' insisted Grant. He also played down any significance in his substitution of Andriy Shevchenko, saying that: 'I know if Shevchenko plays it's because someone told me, if he doesn't play you say I want to show I'm in charge. Shevchenko and any other, if they are good, will play, if they are not good they will do their best. 'I am very proud of the players in the last three days. It's not easy for them, also it's not easy for me. We need to adapt very quickly, they behaved like professionals, with good spirit.' Despite the frustration at the afternoon's events, Grant did manage to find some time for humour, speaking with reference to Sir Alex Ferguson's statement that he will miss his biannual bottle of wine with José Mourinho. 'I told Alex before the game I want to bring him good wine but I didn't have time, so next time I promise to bring him some,' he joked. He also had kind words for the supporters, and their relationship with his predecessor. 'I like the attachment of supporters for José who was here before me. I remember supporters cried when Ranieri left, it just shows we have very good supporters. Me, I'm only here three days, I don't think they have songs for me, maybe in one or two years.' |