Playground jibes force Rio to silence neighbours

MAN UNITED (2) v AJAX (0) Thursday, 8pm – Live on Channel 5

RIO FERDINAND wants to silence any Manchester City fans crawling out of the woodwork.

Champions United are going head to head for the Premier and Europa League titles with their “noisy” neighbours and bitter rivals.

And Ferdi admits even the school run has changed since City started challenging the Old Trafford outfit for honours.

But he’s sure that United will have the last laugh.

He said: “When you’re walking up the path to school, you don’t want little kids laughing at you or making fun of you because you’ve been beaten.

“That’s what happens if you lose games or get knocked out of competitions.

“Now that they are up there challenging, we’re seeing more City kits around town and more people are talking about them.

“You didn’t see that years ago. Now we want to shut those people up too.”

Ferdinand, 34, insists United should not be embarrassed about pushing for their first-ever Europa League title.

Neutrals laughed when the Reds were dumped out of the Champions League group stages for only the third time ever.

But Ferdinand added: “You can’t sit still or worry about what people are saying.

“At this club we just go out there and perform to the best of our capabilities.

“As players we demand the highest standards of ourselves and if we don’t meet them the dressing room isn’t a nice place to be.”

Slashed

United have announced they have slashed their debts from £508million to £439m after revealing an increase in profits for the six months to December.

Media cash is up from £53.7m to £60.9m on the same period for the previous year and matchday cash was up to £55.5m from £52.4m.

Manager Sir Alex Ferguson has let keeper Tomasz Kuszczak join Championship side Watford on loan until the end of the season. The Pole, 29, has slipped to fourth in the pecking order.