Rio Ferdinand admits United's players have been hurting this
week after the 2-1 defeat to Manchester City, and says the only way
to get it out of their system is to beat Arsenal on Saturday.
The most disappointing aspect of the defeat for the 29-year-old was
the Reds' failure to show any of the characteristics that have
placed United among three title challengers this season.
"We didn't do any of the things that have taken us into a good
position in the league and made us a threatening, compact team,"
Rio told MUTV.
"It was a very bad weekend. We've all been thinking about the
reasons why it happened and how we want to pull ourselves together
and get the result out of our minds."
With Arsenal in the FA Cup fifth round on Saturday and Olympique
Lyonnais in the Champions League last 16 first leg the following
Wednesday, Sir Alex Ferguson's men have little choice but to lift
themselves.
Ferdinand says the healing process has already begun, but would be
significantly aided by knocking Arsenal out of the cup at Old
Trafford this weekend. "The best thing you can do is to come into
training and just get focused on winning the next game, and that's
what we're doing."