Manchester Utd v Manchester City: ( Old Trafford 12.45pm On TV: Prem Plus) Alex Ferguson does not live in fear of Manchester City and he is not starting today, when the teams have the lunch-time kick-off at Old Trafford. He has been known to refer to the home of Manchester City as the "Temple of Doom" as well as jokingly to provide their supporters with the number of a good counsellor.

Other foes may prompt a frisson of trepidation but he did not flinch yesterday when reminded about City's impressive derby-day results over recent seasons. "Sorry, but I don't pick the referees," he said, with an indifferent shrug.

Ask Ferguson to list United's most despised rivals and City may get a mention, but only as an afterthought. Liverpool will be top, with Arsenal close behind and Chelsea fast emerging. Even Leeds rank above City, with Ferguson once telling the story of how he got caught at traffic lights outside Elland Road.

"This bunch of supporters, skinheads, 20 or 30 of them, they see me and go 'Ferguson!' and start running across the road. The lights are still red. I'm almost shitting myself, they're getting nearer, then the light goes to amber and (imitation of a tyre-squeal) I'm away."

An audience with Ferguson at United's training ground revealed the oldest manager in the business brimming with excitement about the possibility of establishing a nine-point advantage at the top of the Premiership. Local bragging rights are certainly important to him, a fact he will be drumming into his foreign players before kick-off.

But the thought of cranking up the pressure on Chelsea will be at the forefront of his mind.

Chelsea may have two games in hand going into tomorrow's game against Arsenal at Stamford Bridge but the prospect of being nine points adrift will be a new phenomenon for Jose Mourinho and his players.

Ferguson is clearly enjoying hogging the Premiership's fast lane and will be rooting for Arsenal when he settles down to watch the London derby in what he believes could be a pivotal weekend in the title race.

"If we can win our game it will mean Chelsea have to make up ground on us and you're always better to have the points in the bag rather than the games in hand," said Ferguson.

Ferguson is eager to see how Mourinho's players will handle their game of catch-up, though City's recent record against United - they took four points off them last season, drawing 1-1 at Old Trafford and winning their home game 3-1 -makes him wary of looking too far ahead.

"They're fighting for points (in 12th place) and they're going to battle and scrap for everything, as they have done for the last two years," Ferguson said.

Ferguson believes United will benefit from having three Mancunians in their team (City have none) and one of those, Ryan Giggs, will equal the achievement of Bill Foulkes by making his 688th appearance for the club.

Bobby Charlton holds the record, with 759 games from 1956 to 1973, but Ferguson backed his longest-serving player to beat that total and still be playing for the club in 2010.

"He's 71 games behind the record and that's a realistic target," said Ferguson, who has offered his goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar a one-year contract extension.

"Ryan's 33 and he's been up and down that touchline for 15 years now. Other wingers have come and gone but he's still there and it's an extraordinary record. He's in great physical shape, he looks after himself, he doesn't carry any weight and there's no reason why he cannot go on for another three years."

Stuart Pearce has welcomed the news that considerable funds will be made available to him if Manchester City become the latest Premiership club to change ownership.

City's hierarchy announced this week that talks had begun about a possible £70 million takeover, with the chairman John Wardle saying he would happily "pass the baton" if the investors - as yet, unidentified - had the financial clout to take the club to a new level.

Pearce has been led to believe there is a 50-50 chance of the deal going through and he hopes it will be sorted quickly so he can spend in the January transfer window.

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