Sir Alex Ferguson insists Dimitar Berbatov is “the right player” for Manchester United (Berbatov 33/1 Premiership Top Goalscorer) following his performance in the 3-1 friendly win against Celtic at Toronto’s Rogers Centre.

The Red Devils chief was delighted with the Bulgarian’s overall display after he opened the scoring before setting up substitutes Danny Welbeck and Tom Cleverley to get on the score sheet. And, despite Berbatov’s disappointing return of 26 goals in 86 appearances since joining United from Tottenham in summer 2008, Ferguson feels he is often unfairly criticised.

Ferguson said: “Berbatov got man of the match and I think he deserved that, no question. His performance was excellent.

“In the second half he produced some fantastic moments. It underlines the one great factor – the class he has. You cannot take that away from him, no matter the criticism.

“It doesn’t come from our camp. When we see a performance like that we know we have the right player.”

Ferguson was also boosted by the performance of his forward line as a whole ahead of the new campaign (United 9/4 Premier League Outright) as Mame Biram Diouf started alongside Berbatov, while Welbeck and Federico Macheda featured.

There is also Wayne Rooney, Michael Owen and new signing Javier Hernandez to join the ranks ahead of the big kick-off next month.

“We are happy with the strikers we have got,” added Ferguson. “You have to decide what is the best combination.”