Fergie - Shield should stay at Wembley

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson believes the idea of hosting the Community Shield outside England is a non-starter.

The Red Devils will face Portsmouth in this year's showdown at Wembley on August 10 and Ferguson maintains that the national stadium is the perfect venue for the match.

Asked whether the Community Shield should be played in another country, Ferguson said: "I would hope not, for the simple reason that you're only seven days before the start of the season."

He added: "To be thinking of going to other countries, far away, at that time, it's too close to the start of the season as far as I'm concerned.

"If you look at our pre-seasons over the years, we've always given players plenty of time to recover from our trips.

"I would not want it to happen. I think Wembley is the perfect stage."

United, in fact, will face Portsmouth tomorrow in Nigeria in a dress rehearsal of the Community Shield.

They will fly out straight after the final of the Vodacom Challenge against Kaizer Chiefs.

Ferguson explained the reasons why they decided to play a second game in the space of 24 hours.

He said: "We have never been to Nigeria. It was just an opportunity. You could say it was partly financial, of course. Today you have to take money into consideration because we have a big operation to run."