It Was A Kick In The Teeth At St Andrew's

The league leaders make a swift return to the Birmingham area this Saturday - New Year’s Day - when Sir Alex Ferguson’s men will visit West Bromwich Albion. Rio no doubt speaks for the squad when he hopes for a better outcome than Tuesday night and, indeed, than in the last meeting with the Baggies – 2-2 at Old Trafford in October.

“We should have got the three points at Birmingham but we'll be looking to the next game to make things right,” 

“I thought, on the whole, we deserved to win at St Andrew's. After battling with Birmingham in the first half, we started the second half quite brightly. We passed the ball about and got our noses in front with a great goal from Berba.

“But you want to shut games out like that and we didn't manage to do it. It was a kick in the teeth to concede the equaliser so late on.”

While dismayed by the modus operandi for Birmingham’s last-gasp leveller – “he (Nikola Zigic, the goal’s creator) even said at the end of the game he handled the ball” – Ferdinand respects the way United’s opponents approached the contest.

“They get right into you as you expect, understand and appreciate when you go to places like Birmingham and, of course, their fans get up for it," said Rio.

“It's what makes the Premier League such a great league to play in. You get a different set of tasks in front of you each week and you have to deal with them.”

The Reds must now deal with a wounded animal in West Brom – the Baggies lost both their Christmas matches, 0-2 at Bolton where they were arguably the better side and 1-3 at home to Blackburn. Victory for United at The Hawthorns seems almost vital as the title race continues to twist and turn with Manchester City and Arsenal now serious contenders, while Spurs have climbed above Chelsea into fourth spot.

“It's open for four or five teams to go and take it,” acknowledged Ferdinand. “We want to be the team that does just that.”

@manutd.com