Sir Alex Ferguson is convinced someone is going to suffer because of Manchester United's goalscoring drought.

Amazingly, the Red Devils have not scored more than a single goal in Premier League combat since belting five past Stoke in November.

Although they did score twice against Aalborg and five in the Club World Cup victory over Gamba Osaka last month, hitting the target has proved to be a struggle for Ferguson's side, who have already scored single-goal victories over Stoke and Middlesbrough since they returned from the Far East.

With a title showdown with Chelsea looming on January 11, it is a problem that needs rectifying.

Matches against Coca-Cola Championship outfits Southampton - in the FA Cup on Sunday - and Derby - in the Carling Cup semi-final at Pride Park next week - would seem to offer the perfect opportunity to break the shackles.

Ferguson is concerned. But he is content the quality of his strikeforce will ensure the barren streak does not continue indefinitely.

"Every game is an opportunity to score goals," he reflected.

"We made 25 chances against Middlesbrough on Monday and scored once.

"It is not what we expect but with the players we have, you have to think someone is going to suffer.

"The goalscoring will correct itself at some point because we have good goalscorers."

With Carlos Tevez not due back from a family visit in Argentina until Sunday evening, Monday's matchwinner Dimitar Berbatov should partner Wayne Rooney in attack at St Mary's Stadium.

Although Ferguson intends to utilise the full extent of his squad over the next few days, Cristiano Ronaldo is also set to face the south coast outfit, having once again declared his intention to remain at United, dismissing the latest rumours of a deal being done with Real Madrid as 'lies'.

"Do you believe me now?" asked Ferguson, who made his own stance on the rumours perfectly clear in Yokohama when he famously said he would not sell Real 'a virus'.

"Cristiano is happy here. That is the end of the matter," added the United boss.

Ferguson has already stated there is no chance of any club winning all four trophies in one season and given the Carling Cup is now one step from conclusion and defending the Champions League and Premier League crowns is top priority, the Scot could be forgiven for feeling Sunday's encounter is a step too far.

Yet United's exit from last season's tournament against eventual winners Portsmouth still rankles. The opponents may not be the same but he still wants to make amends.

"We are competing," he argued.

"The FA Cup is partly down to luck. It is sudden death and anything can happen.

"We have not got the home draw I always look for but they have a good stadium and I expect an interesting game."

This Southampton team is far removed from the ones that caused Ferguson so many problems at the Dell a decade ago, part of an unbroken stint of 27 years in the top flight.

Nowadays, the battle is to avoid dropping further down the league system rather than climbing back into the elite, so Sunday offers a capacity crowd some respite from the difficulties facing Jan Poorvliet's men.

"Southampton were one of the most consistent teams for nearly 30 years," said Ferguson.

"They had a fantastic record for a provincial team, with some marvellous players.

"They had that golden period under Lawrie McMenemy with lads like Peter Shilton, Mike Channon and Kevin Keegan. More recently, Matthew Le Tissier was top goalscorer in the Premier League.

"Now they are having to deal with young players but their coach has done a great job considering he has no money to work with."