Boss Sir Alex Ferguson has sent out an apology the 67,511 Manchester United fans that turned up for their side's FA Cup clash with Exeter City, that ended up in an embarrassing goalless draw.

Despite the depleted side, anyone would expect The Red Devils to win by a country-mile and Ferguson has dubbed the display as "the worst FA Cup performance" in his Old Trafford tenure.

The Gracians deserved their historic draw after defending well for the full 90 minutes and keeping big-guns such as Paul Scholes and Cristiano Ronaldo at bay towards the end.

"I apologise to the fans. They did not deserve that," stated Ferguson.

"In my 18 years at this club that was the worst performance we have ever produced in the FA Cup."

"It is hard to get your head around it. We are all very disappointed. If someone had told me before the game it would be 0-0 I would probably have hit them. I know we played some young players but that is not an excuse, we expect more of them than that."

"The only positive thing we can take out of the game is that we are still in the competition. This is Exeter's day but I will play a much stronger team in the replay and we will not make this mistake again." he added.

A replay will now be played at Exeter's St James Park in a few weeks time.