Rio - Hurt will spur us on

Rio Ferdinand believes the hurt of losing to Manchester City last season will help spur the Red Devils on in Sunday's eagerly-awaited derby clash. Sir Alex Ferguson's side lost to City both home and away last term but have beaten the Blues at Eastlands this campaign.Ferdinand wants United to now go on and do the double over their rivals at Old Trafford on Sunday - in a game being shown live on Sky Sports 1 and Sky Sports HD1 at 1.30pm - to re-establish a three-point gap on Liverpool at the top of the Premier League.The defender said: "If you are going to be champions and reach cup finals, you need a feeling of hurt when you lose games."I have experienced all aspects of playing against City and there are not many worse feelings than losing to them.Care"Any idea that the derby means more to the fans than the players is wrong. The players care, I can assure everyone of that."We will be doing our best and we want to win."New big spending owners have bolstered City's squad this term but Ferdinand remains unfazed.He said: "I don't know if the derby is progressing as a fixture. It is weird really. City have had a lot of money pumped into them by their current investors but I couldn't care less what happens to them."As long as we are above City I won't be too bothered about looking over my shoulder. I am just hopeful we can go out there and produce the goods tomorrow."More passionateBut Ferdinand does concede further investment in City will begin to pay dividends."If more money is invested in the squad I am sure they will become more successful, start vying for the cup competitions and get higher in the league."Then the rivalry will become even more passionate. Being around each other in the league would add to the fire. You can see that now with Liverpool."The rivalry with them has increased over the last few months because we are both going for the title."

Source: SKY_Sports