Mourinho's Fergie jibe

Jose Mourinho today taunted Sir Alex Ferguson by claiming that Manchester United have a problem playing in the South.

Ferguson suggested this week that Chelsea would struggle to pick up points when they visit Liverpool, Everton and Manchester United in the New Year, but Mourinho hit back by claiming that Ferguson's side also suffer from travel sickness.

United lost at Chelsea on the opening day of the season and have dropped points elsewhere, suffering a surprising defeat at Portsmouth and only managing a draw at Fulham last week.

In the latest outbreak of his ongoing war of words with Ferguson, Mourinho said: "We could lose points in the North but Manchester United have already lost points in the South.

"They lost three at Chelsea, three at Portsmouth and two at Fulham. United have a problem in the South; maybe we'll have one in the North."

Mourinho also revealed that he is considering signing a midfield replacement for Scott Parker in next month's transfer window.

The England international will be out for three months with a broken metatarsal, leaving Chelsea short of numbers in midfield. Mourinho is scouring the market for a holding midfielder to provide support for Claude Makelele, but will sign a squad player rather than an international superstar.

He said: "Scott was an important player for us in the last two months and I played him against Blackburn, Spartak Moscow, Paris St Germain and Porto. He was becoming a regular player for us and we need to have his balance.