ALEX FERGUSON will recommend Patrice Evra does not ignore Luis Suarez in the pre-match handshake when they come face to face for the first time since the FA found the Liverpool striker guilty of racially abusing the Manchester United player and banned him for eight matches.

Ferguson intends to leave the decision to Evra when the teams meet at Old Trafford next Saturday but believes the Frenchman should not prolong the argument.

“He should be applauded for what he did [reporting Suarez], standing up to it,” Ferguson said. “There is no shame for him. The matter is over. He can rise above that [ignoring the handshake].”

Evra was booed and subjected to chants branding him a liar when he played at Anfield last weekend and one supporter was arrested afterwards for allegedly making monkey gestures.

“I don’t think he enjoyed it but he handled it okay”, said Ferguson. “Patrice has already shown the courage to fight it, so he has nothing to be ashamed of. I don’t think it’s a problem shaking hands.”

John Terry’s absence with a knee injury means Ferguson will not have to speak to Rio Ferdinand to ascertain whether he is planning to shun the Chelsea captain in the pre-match handshakes at Stamford Bridge tomorrow. Ferdinand had told friends he did not want to accept Terry’s hand but Ferguson planned to advise him to go through with it.

United’s injury concerns are easing, with Wayne Rooney, Ashley Young, Nani and Tom Cleverley all in the squad. David de Gea should return in goal, as Anders Lindegaard has an ankle injury that will rule him out for up to six weeks.

“The boy has got a great talent,” Ferguson said of De Gea. “He has made two or three mistakes but in two or three years we won’t be discussing that at all because he will have matured.”

Ferguson was less charitable when it came to Alan Hansen’s recent criticisms of United on Match of the Day, again turning on the former Liverpool player. “He has tried to change it by saying he was talking about our away form but I have read his transcript and he said we were woeful for the last year and a half. He didn’t mention away games. So he’s dug himself into a grave really.

“He’s in a responsible position and it’s obvious to me he has said it the week before we played Liverpool.

“I can understand it because he’s a former Liverpool player and Kenny [Dalglish] is his pal, but he should be more responsible.”