Manchester United's Treble dream is over. Now Ryan Giggs is
targeting double glory for the Red Devils.
United have been given little time to dwell on their dismal
Champions League exit in Milan by the Premier League, who rejected
a request to put the Manchester derby back by 24 hours.
Instead, much to Sir Alex Ferguson's disgust, they have forced them
to face Manchester City at Eastlands on Saturday lunchtime.
Ferguson knows he must rouse his team for what could turn out to be
a pivotal weekend.
After extending their lead over Chelsea at the Premiership summit
to five points, United know a win over their neighbours will leave
Jose Mourinho's men requiring a victory at Arsenal 24 hours later
just to keep the championship race alive.
And Giggs does not believe his team-mates will have any problem
lifting their spirits given the stakes are so high.
"There is still so much to play for," said the Wales captain.
"The character of the team is being tested but we have shown all
season we can bounce back from situations like these.
"We are greedy. We wanted to win everything this season. We are out
of the Champions League now, so we have to try and win the
double.
"The City game was always going to be a big one, no matter what the
result was against Milan.
"But obviously, there is more emphasis on it now because we have to
go there and try to get a positive result to put pressure on
Chelsea for Sunday.
"If we can do that, we will be a lot closer to winning the league.
We still have the FA Cup to come as well, so there is an awful lot
still to play for."
Having lost on three of their last four visits to City, United will
be taking nothing for granted.
However, with their opponents still reeling from Joey Barton's
training ground attack on Ousmane Dabo which has seen the England
international suspended and knowing City have failed to score a
league goal on home soil since New Year's Day, it would be a major
surprise if United were to slip up now.
Alan Smith is expected to earn a recall, as is Rio Ferdinand, who
remained on the bench throughout Wednesday's 3-0 defeat at the San
Siro as Ferguson took a calculated risk on the fitness of Nemanja
Vidic.
Former United boss Tommy Docherty branded Ferguson's decision to
hand Vidic a starting spot 'a disaster'.
Yet Ferguson is adamant placing his trust in the Serbian, who broke
a collarbone against Blackburn on March 31, was the right
move.
"There was an element of risk but I could not play both Nemanja and
Rio and the lesser risk, without question, was Vidic," said
Ferguson.
"I have to take the long view and hopefully, we now have Rio
available until the end of the season."