Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand admits their derby clashes against Manchester City this season has stepped up a few levels this season.

Ferdinand is looking forward to this weekend's clash in the derby.

He told manutd.com: "Well, I didn't enjoy the first one very much… for obvious reasons (Rio's mistake on 90 minutes let in Craig Bellamy to level the scores at 3-3). That said, we did go on and win the game so it all worked out OK. But the Carling Cup semi-final was unbelievable.

"When Wazza scored in the final minute to put the game to bed it was incredible. Walking around town the week after that result was a terrific feeling. I was so happy we put one over them, especially after so much had been said in the lead-up to that match. It was really important for us to win that game - we wanted to hammer home to our fans that we still cared enough about that fixture to go out there and put everything on the line to beat Manchester City."