Rio Ferdinand: Ronaldo is Gone, but Bulgarian Berbatov is Here

Manchester United centre-back Rio Ferdinand has expressed confidence that the goalscoring gap left by the departures of Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlo Tevez will be filled by other members of the team, including Bulgarian Dimitar Berbatov.

"I think the goals will be spread around a lot more this season," he told United's official website.

"Over the last two seasons Ronny was sort of our ‘go-to guy', someone we relied on a lot to stick the ball in the back of the net. His goal record was phenomenal.

"But the likes of Wazza [Wayne Rooney], Berba [Dimitar Berbatov] and Michael Owen will score plenty of goals, as will our young forwards like [Federico] Macheda and [Danny] Welbeck. And you'll probably see more from the midfielders as well.

"I think the biggest concern with Michael [Owen] when he signed was making sure he stayed fit.

"We all know he's got goals in him and we'll see a lot more this season."

Ferdinand made it clear he is upbeat about his team's emphatic win over Chelsea in the Community Shield game at Wembley on Sunday.

Winning the trophy for an 18th time for the Red Devils would be a good way to begin the season, but Ferdinand insists that success does not mean that greater things will ineluctably follow over the course of the coming campaign.

"Winning would be great, but it won't guarantee a successful season. You can't read too much into these things," he added.