Ryan's derby day thrill
MEN, JAMES ROBSON - 29/11/2008
Giggs scored his first goal in the derby 17 years ago
RYAN Giggs admits he still feels the same way about derby day as he did as a kid growing up in Manchester.
Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea may offer a more obvious and formidable title threat to the Reds, but bragging rights over City have always held a special place in his heart.
As a veteran of 27 such matches, scoring his first senior goal against the Blues as a 17-year-old back in 1991 - even though he accepts he never touched the ball in a mix-up with Colin Hendry - Giggs has made a greater contribution to encounters with City than anyone else.
However, he is aware the damage he might do tomorrow will be from central midfield.
"I have not been an out-and-out winger for the last three or four years," he said.
"I enjoy playing in midfield. You are more involved and you get to see a lot more of the ball.
"It is certainly not alien to me and maybe the ability to move around is one of the things that has kept me playing for so long."
With Ferguson suggesting a new one-year contract at the season's end, the serial medal-collector has time to increase his already unmatched haul.
One thing is for certain, if Giggs does find himself on the losing side once more, he won't be venturing too far for a few days.
"You are still aware the fans want bragging rights on Monday but you also want to win as players because, as we experienced last year, it takes a bit of time to get over losing a derby.
"If you don't get the right result you tend to stay in your house, just so the supporters don't have a chance to give you some stick."
Boss Sir Alex Ferguson, meanwhile, fears United's hopes of retaining their Premier League and European crowns could be scuppered by an impending fixture backlog.
The United manager believes his side could be faced with a similar situation as in 1992 when losing the title to Leeds. Back then they had to cram four games into six days, winning only one of those matches and surrendering the title to Howard Wilkinson's side.
Last year, Ferguson saw how his good friend, Walter Smith, struggled with a fixture pile-up at Rangers.
At one point Smith was bidding for the Scottish title, FA Cup and UEFA Cup. But after squeezing in nine games from May 1 to 24, their hopes of a treble were dashed.
They ended up with just the Scottish Cup to show for a season that had promised so much - and Ferguson is wary of the same happening to United.
There is the potential of this season's fixture congestion being worse than '92 with United having much more on their plate. As well as the Champions League, they have reached the quarter-final of the Carling Cup and are off to Japan next month for the World Club Championships.
They already have a game in hand on their rivals due to the European Super Cup at the start of the season. And they will be two games behind by time they get back from Japan.
Such has been United's schedule so far this season that they haven't been able to find a suitable date to play their game in hand against Fulham, and it could prove even more difficult in the New Year when the FA Cup kicks in.
"We're playing catch-up at the moment," said Fergie. "We will have to make up two games and it will depend on our progress in the League Cup and the FA Cup.
"That could prove a minefield for us in terms of dates. But it depends how we go on against Blackburn in the League Cup because we've then got two semi-final dates and that's two midweek games.
"The availability of fixtures dries up and you're looking at the end of February or March. If you don't get them then you are talking about a Rangers situation from last year when they had eight games in 12 days or like when we lost the league in '92, four games in six days."
original: rondwisan