Fergie thrilled by comeback but knows he has problems

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Sir Alex says Manchester City’s positive start to the season has injected added spice to Wednesday’s derby.

The Blues go into the game just three points behind United and with a victory over Chelsea already under the belts this season, following another summer of big-money spending. City fans, who have lived in the shadow of the Reds' success over the last 20 years, sense the tide is turning in Manchester and Sir Alex says he’s ready for a big challenge from the local rivals.

“[City’s good start this season] does put an edge on [the game],” the Reds boss told Inside United. “I don’t believe there’s any question about that. We know the kind of money they’re spending – they’ve bought another five or six players in the summer – and they’ll keep doing that until they win something.

“You know that’s going to be the way it is and you have to deal with it as it comes along.

“They’re up there [challenging for the title], and you can’t wait until tomorrow when there’s something there today. I’m sure they’re thinking that way themselves.”

United fans are sweating on the fitness of Nani (groin) and Ryan Giggs (hamstring) ahead of Wednesday's clash, while City will appeal the red card shown to Mario Balotelli on Sunday. It's expected an FA hearing on Tuesday will decide the Italian's fate.

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Sir Alex Ferguson is relishing the chance to pit his wits against Manchester City in a local skirmish which is fast captivating the football world.

City's ascension to prominence over the last two years has invigorated Manchester derbies and, while the fixture lacks the historic prestige of United's rivalry with Liverpool, Sir Alex admits it carries a growing magnitude.

"It’s a different type of derby from the Liverpool game," the United manager told his pre-match press conference. "The Liverpool game is one of honour in terms of trophies won. We’re undoubtedly the two most successful clubs in British football, so when we meet it’s a different type of derby game.

"Now, derby games between ourselves and City are of great intensity built up by a media explosion, what City are doing and trying to achieve in their own way and the fact we’re both in the same city. There’s an incredible intensity in this derby game now, which wasn’t there maybe 10-15 years ago."

"There’s nothing more satisfying than winning a derby game. It doesn’t matter what year it is or when (during the game) it is."

While City narrowly failed to qualify for this season's Champions League and have made an impressive start to the current campaign, Sir Alex feels the Blues are quickly learning that, for all their spending, tangible success requires patience.

When asked if it was inevitable that City would soon become champions, he responded: "It's difficult to say. Obviously, in many people's eyes, having the money is a lot better than not having it.

It’s a difficult league to win. They know that. City recognise that themselves.

"If people with money want to spend it, they’ll spend it. Chelsea did the same, Sunderland did it back in the 1950s, it’s just a fact of life. It’s not an unusual thing, the only difference being that City’s is an untapped well at the moment.

"It’s a different league now, it’s a really competitive league. The results at the weekend tell you that this is a really difficult league to win, and that points will be dropped between now and the New Year. I think it will build up to a really fantastic run-in for the championship and there’ll be points dropped in the run-in too, because that’s the kind of league it is now."

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Sir Alex Ferguson still feels the passion of the Manchester derby as much as ever and insists there's no place he'd rather be than the Manchester United dugout on Wednesday.

At an age when most men would be happily taking their seats in front of the fireplace for the clash at Eastlands, 68-year-old Ferguson will be right in the line of fire.

Despite the fact he must forge a side together from a group of players ravaged by illness and injury, Ferguson can't wait to lock horns with City in a fixture that went United's way on both occasions last season due to goals at the death by Michael Owen and Paul Scholes.

"Derby games are fantastic,'' Ferguson said. "What would you rather be doing, managing a game between City and United or Carlisle against Crewe? They are the ends of the spectrum. Derby games can divide husband and wife. You are involved in a game of emotions.''

Although usually high-octane affairs, it is only in the past couple of years that the battles between Manchester's feuding pair have really captured the imagination.

Huge amounts of money poured in by City owner Sheikh Mansour has made an obvious difference, along with the Blues' award-winning marketing campaign, led by that infamous 'Welcome to Manchester' poster marking the arrival of Carlos Tevez from Old Trafford. Even 16 months after the event, Ferguson is still irked by its impact, which marked the arrival of his new 'noisy neighbours'.

"I don't know how it was created, probably some advertising gimmick at City. But I don't think they can be proud of it,'' he said. "I said it was stupid at the time. They probably think that now. I don't see how they thought it would get more points off us when it came to playing on a football pitch.

"Maybe it was worthwhile for some of the supporters but I think a lot of them were embarrassed. They would rather see that trophy being paraded through the city before they start screaming from the rooftops.''

Amid the heightened intensity of Wednesday's showdown, Ferguson insists he will not lose sight of the real barrier to United's hopes of glory this term. It is stationed at Stamford Bridge.

"If you don't recognise who won the league last season then you are very foolish,'' he said. "We have to chase Chelsea. That is our challenge. It is not easy winning our league and they are a very formidable and experienced side.''

City winger David Silva has warned United of the confidence blossoming in the Sky Blues' camp after their win at West Brom on the weekend. City should also draw confidence from the fact they defeat fellow title rivals Chelsea at Eastlands in September. A win over their local foes would see City move on to the same points tally as United.

"This is a game we believe we can win," City told City's official website. "This is a hugely important match for us. We know a victory would put us on the same points as they are. We are at home and will have our supporters behind us so the advantage is with us. We need to use the atmosphere and take the game to them.''

"I watched the Manchester derby as a boy and have always enjoyed it since. But I never imagined I'd be actually playing in it. I always thought I would play my football in Spain so this is very exciting for me and I am very happy to be part of it.''

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Sir Alex Ferguson has criticised Manchester City for 'screaming from the rooftops' without winning anything. Photograph: Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images

Sir Alex Ferguson has derided what he perceives to be Manchester City's habit of "screaming from the rooftops" since coming into the immense wealth of the Abu Dhabi United Group and questioned whether some of the club's supporters were "embarrassed" by the way those in charge at Eastlands had conducted themselves.

Ferguson, in typically provocative mood ahead of the first Manchester derby of the season, was almost certainly referring to City's chief executive, Garry Cook, who was once filmed bragging to supporters about building "without doubt the biggest and best football club in the world".

Cook has curtailed his media duties after a series of gaffes but Ferguson believes the richest club on the planet have allowed themselves to "get carried away", and the Manchester United manager still holds a grudge about the "Welcome to Manchester" billboard posted after Carlos Tevez left Old Trafford to join City.

Ferguson said: "I don't know what created that – probably some advertising gimmick – but I don't think they can be proud of it. I don't see how they thought that would get more points off us as opposed to playing against us on a football pitch. I said at the time I thought it was stupid and they probably think that themselves now. I think it was probably worthwhile for maybe some of their supporters, but not all of them. Others will have been embarrassed. If you ask their supporters I think they would prefer to see a trophy paraded through the city before they start getting carried away like that.

"I mean, there was one City fan who put a tattoo around his body saying 'European Cup winners'. People get carried away. Unfortunately supporters are just as bad as directors. But I think a lot of their supporters would probably prefer to see a trophy paraded before they start screaming from the rooftops."

This is a theme Ferguson has developed before, at various times describing City as "cocky" and "all talk." YetMancini took great care not to utter anything even remotely controversial at his own press conference, the City manager saying: "We must have respect for the top teams like United and Chelsea, those teams that have won things in recent years."

Ferguson has made no secret of his dislike of the modern-day City and his tone hardened when it was put to him that the vast finances coming in from Abu Dhabi left United facing a considerable challenge. "Excuse me, but it was Chelsea who won the league," he said firmly. "That's our challenge. We have to chase Chelsea, and if you don't recognise who won the league then you're very foolish."

Ferguson's impression of the club he has described as United's "noisy neighbours" is not improved by the sense that Wayne Rooney had been made aware of the huge financial riches on offer at City before his recent contract dispute at Old Trafford. Ferguson said he could not answer questions on the subject because there had been no official approach, but it is widely known that Cook and his colleagues were optimistic of Rooney joining them. "That's them," Ferguson said when pressed further. "Don't ask me, Christ."

Rooney's fitness issues look like they could jeopardise his involvement in England's friendly against France next week - "He can be available only if he's fit and at this moment he's not," Ferguson said – but the bigger concern for United is the virus that has affected 10 of their players, and the manager himself, ahead of tomorrow night's game at Eastlands."I've no idea where to begin with my team, no idea at all," Ferguson said. "We've still got players out with flu and some were sent home yesterday so we're not in a great position."

The problem is exacerbated by a long injury list and, though City are not convinced by Ferguson's claims that Ryan Giggs and Nani will miss the game, Mancini could be forgiven for thinking this is a good time to face Ferguson's men. Mario Balotelli, who has lost his appeal against the three-match ban for his red card at West Bromwich Albion on Sunday, is suspended, but City have no other injury worries, with Emmanuel Adebayor able to train today despite a sore calf.

United, though, are unbeaten in their past 24 games. "I watched Match of the Day on Saturday and they said we were hopeless," Ferguson said. "We had five world-class players out of the team [against Wolverhampton Wanderers]. We were playing with three players up front with only 30 games experience between them and we still won 2-1. I thought our result was a fantastic achievement given all the problems we have in the dressing room."

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Aston Villa's Marc Albrighton, right, scores his side's seocnd goal against Manchester United. Photograph: Kieran Doherty/REUTERS

Manchester United remain unbeaten but still the points are trickling away. The draw at Aston Villa was United's sixth in seven away matches in the Premier League, the statistical equivalent of four defeats, and while the alacrity with which Sir Alex Ferguson's side saved the game was commendable the general lack of quality in their performance did not suggest that Chelsea's grip on the title was going to be loosened any time soon.

It was not as if this was just a rare off-day for United. A week earlier they were about to be held to a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford by the struggling Wolves when Park Ji-sung won the game in Fergie flexitime. At Villa Park, where Manchester United had not lost for 15 years, they were two down with just under a quarter-of-an-hour to go and had also seen the opposition hit bar and post as Gérard Houllier's injury-ravaged team swept their defence aside in the second half.

Smartly executed goals from Federico Macheda, who had replaced Javier Hernández, and Nemanja Vidic, who as a defender had spent much of the game in a trance, reconfirmed United's ability to salvage something from the most hopeless of situations, but their manager's reaction suggested an underlying problem which is not going to be solved by a series of great escapes or even the eventual return of Wayne Rooney.

Not for the first time Ferguson found salvation on the bench as both Macheda and the young Frenchman Gabriel Obertan, who was brought on for a subdued Dimitar Berbatov, provided the attack with fresh legs and fresh ideas. "They changed the game," Ferguson said. "There was a great life and adventure about them. But I could have taken any 10 players off the field because we didn't perform well. We came back well but it was too late and we shouldn't have been in that position.

"I expected us to do better in terms of our play. Our passing was poor. Normally we can control the match. We didn't control it. But you've got to give Villa credit for their battling qualities. They were playing at a high level of emotion and deserved the result."

Had Aston Villa been up to strength there might have been some excuse for the way United struggled to find fluency while making a series of unforced errors, but the heart of Houllier's team had been blown away by injuries. "I don't think I've had such an inexperienced midfield for a game of such magnitude," the Villa manager admitted and when, at the start of the match, Darren Fletcher and Michael Carrick faced Barry Bannan and Jonathan Hogg across the centre circle it was as if a couple of fathers had brought their lads along to see the game.

Such images vanished as the Villa pair gradually asserted a youthful authority which opened up the wings and gave Marc Albrighton and Stewart Downing opportunities to take on Patrice Evra and Wes Brown for skill and speed. If Albrighton was the principal threat before half-time Downing dominated the game thereafter, with Gabriel Agbonlahor finding sufficient form on his return from injury to plague the vague Vidic.

Villa appeared set for a memorable victory once Ashley Young had given them the lead with a penalty in the 72nd minute after Brown had brought him down, and Albrighton increased it four minutes later when he rounded off a breathtaking counterattack which saw the same Young set up Downing for the decisive cross. Had James Collins's earlier header, from Downing's centre, gone under the bar rather than hitting it and Agbonlahor's shot two minutes later hit the net rather than a post Villa would have been out of sight.

As it was Nani, who had been getting Villa Park's goat, became the source of United's rescue as his centres led to each of their goals. Vidic headed the first of these down to Fletcher, whose neat back heel set up Macheda for a well-struck shot through a gap between defenders. The second was perfectly flighted for Vidic, unmarked at the far post, to head United level.

"With another five minutes we could have won the game," said Ferguson. Quite possibly, but Mike Dean had already allowed five minutes of stoppage time and Manchester United did not deserve another long count.

"If someone had seen my team before the game and said 'will you take 2-2' we would have taken it," said Houllier. In the event his players were entitled to be disappointed, which said much for the strength of their performance.