IT DIDN’T MATTER HOW BAD UNITED WERE, WE HAD TO BEAT THEM!
WHETHER Manchester United were tenth or second, it didn’t matter. We only ever had one thing in our mind — beat them, keep them at arm’s length. We had a fantastic time in the 1980s and we dominated the league but never once did we take games against them for granted. They had difficulties with consistency but they always had fantastic individuals, such as Bryan Robson, who had the potential to do damage. So when the fixtures came around, it was simply a case of getting three points and keeping them out of the way. I always remember going to Old Trafford and you could feel the venom and hatred in the atmosphere. You knew how desperate they were to flatten us and if that didn’t give you an extra incentive to win, nothing would. The tension you felt beforehand couldn’t be compared. That’s what made the emotions around the results so acute. If you lost, the thought of going into work on Monday was awful. You could get over most defeats but not to them. But beating them? There’s nothing like it. Did I ever think they would overhaul us? No. I remember 1985-86 when they started with 10 wins from 10 and everyone was a cock-a-hoop. We were never worried. The feeling was ‘we’ll be OK when we get going’. We were. We won the Double.