Sir Alex Ferguson has backed Stoke City defender Ryan Shawcross after his leg-shattering tackle on Aaron Ramsey was condemned by Arsene Wenger as "horrendous" and "no coincidence".

GettyImagesAaron Ramsey lies injured on the pitch

Shawcross, who is in contention to win his first England cap against Egypt on Wednesday night, received a phone call from Ferguson after the incident to offer the 22-year-old his support.

Shawcross began his career at United under Ferguson and is still highly-regarded by the Scot, but was allowed to move to Stoke before making a first-team appearance. Ramsey, who it is hoped will be back in action by September, underwent surgery on Sunday to repair the double fracture and now faces a long road to recovery. "Sir Alex rang Ryan after the game on Sunday to give him his support and told him that he shouldn't miss out on England duty," explained Potters boss Tony Pulis. "These things do happen, unfortunately, and Sir Alex still thinks a lot of Ryan after having him for so long at Manchester United.

"He knows him as well as I do and knows he is not the sort of player to go out to deliberately hurt anyone. Sir Alex had obviously seen the incident and believed, like I do, that it was an accident.

"He told him he will get over it, even though he knows he's hurting now. Ryan really appreciated the call and it's given him a bit of a lift at a very difficult time.

"I've had a nice text back off Aaron thanking us for our messages of support. We thought texting was the best way to make contact, because he was obviously taken up with his surgery and recovery."