SIR Alex Ferguson has revealed that he is planning talks with Cristiano Ronaldo to persuade the ?50 million-rated star his long-term future is in the Premier League - despite being roughed-up by Portsmouth players in the FA Cup.

The Manchester United boss was enraged by Portsmouth challenges on his $139m-Portuguese star during their 1-0 quarter-final defeat by Harry Redknapp's side at Old Trafford a week ago.

Ronaldo admitted he's becoming 'scared' of showing off his dazzling skills and fears he may have to change his game to prevent an injury like the horrific leg break suffered by Arsenal star Eduardo da Silva with referees sometimes offering him little protection against defenders.

And that's prompted Ferguson to plan a sit-down chat with the 23-year-old star in a bid to prevent him being driven out of English football by rough-house tackles - especially with Real Madrid making no secret of their desire to smash the world transfer record to sign the United winger.

Said Ferguson last night: 'No, I hope Cristiano will not be driven out of England but it's something we are going to have to work at of course.

'I don't know what Cristiano was feeling after the game because I never spoke to him. I wasn't talking to anyone after the game but it's something I will look at with him.

'Skilful players get more protection in Europe there's no doubt about that, so what we will have to do is to encourage him that all the benefits of being here are good. That's important.

'We are supposed to be an entertainment business and it's supposed to be a game of football but last Saturday against Portsmouth he had seven fouls against him in 10 minutes.

'Seven fouls in 10 minutes and not a booking, it's unbelievable and it drives you mad. I know Cristiano expressed fears about being injured and it is a concern for us.

'We were saying this months ago that we have to be very vigilant about the type of tackles now. The speed of the tackling, the speed of the game which is faster and the speed of challenges which have become faster and the thing we all recognise now is that two-footed challenges are out.'

Ferguson was incensed by two shoulder-charge challenges by Lassana Diarra and Sylvain Distin on Ronaldo that went unpunished in the early stages of their defeat by Pompey.

His post-match attack on Yorkshire official Martin Atkinson and referee's supremo Keith Hackett has triggered an FA inquiry with

No. 2 Carlos Queiroz also on the carpet for his comments about Atkinson.

But United believe they have evidence that the treatment of Ronaldo was pre-planned and it's understood Portsmouth players may have been overheard discussing their tactics for containing Ferguson's 30-goal topscorer.