Shattered Fergie Expects United to Show Character

Sir Alex Ferguson insists Manchester United will recover from the worst result of his career after the Premier League champions were thrashed 6-1 by Manchester City at Old Trafford.

The extraordinary defeat represented City's biggest win at Old Trafford since January 1926 as Mario Balotelli and Edin Dzeko claimed two goals each, with further strikes from David Silva and Sergio Aguero.

Table-toppers City are now five points clear of bitter rivals United after a remarkable day in the history of both clubs.

It was the biggest defeat suffered by Ferguson in his illustrious 54-year career as a player and manager, and also United's heaviest Premier League loss.

However, Ferguson, who blamed the defeat on the dismissal of defender Jonny Evans moments into the second half, expects United's players to show their character and bounce back in the League Cup tie at Aldershot on Tuesday.

"I'm shattered, I can't believe it," Ferguson said. "It was an incredible disappointment. We played some brilliant football in the first 10 minutes.

"It was hard to believe we were 1-0 down but that’s retrievable. The sending off was the killer blow.

"After that we kept attacking. It's alright playing the history books but common sense has to come into it. When we went to 3-1, 4-1 we should have settled for that.

"But you have to recover. The history of Manchester United says we will recover.

"That kind of defeat will make an impact on the players. There's a lot of embarrassment in that dressing room and quite rightly so."

The defeat proved doubly costly for United who have now fallen far behind City in the goal difference column, trailing City by 12.

"It's the manner of the defeat," Ferguson said. "And the goal difference. Over the years we have always enjoyed a better goal difference than our rivals but today we are well short."