Defeat still hurts as much as ever for evergreen Giggs

THE strength of Ryan Giggs’ enduring hunger for footballing success was underlined during the ceremony that saw him acclaimed as the BBC’s sports personality of the year.

For while the awards ceremony was building up to its climax, Giggs was still brooding over Manchester United’s home defeat by Aston Villa little more than 24 hours beforehand.

It is that gnawing pain that provides the 36-year-old Welshman with the conviction he still has plenty to offer the club he has serve for 20 years – and indeed talks will start soon on a new contract for next season.

Giggs said: “I’m hungrier for the game than I’ve ever been. I was sat there taking everything in during the ceremony and still thinking about the game the night before. It still hurts that we got beaten.

“If defeats are still hurting you then it shows you have still got that desire to carry on, and that’s certainly the case at the moment.

“I’m probably playing the best I have ever played at the moment and enjoying it more than ever before.’’

Giggs limped out of the 1-0 defeat by Aston Villa with a hamstring problem and does not think he will be risked for the Premier League encounter with Wolves at Old Trafford tonight.

Dimitar Berbatov and Michael Owen will hope to be involved for United, who will not want to waste a second chance to draw level on points with Chelsea, who don’t play until Wednesday.

Wolves boss Mick McCarthy expects United to be “rubbing their hands with glee” at the prospect of facing his side tonight.

After United’s defeat to Aston Villa, McCarthy is expecting a huge backlash from Alex Ferguson’s title-chasing side. Wolves will head to Old Trafford on a massive high having climbed out of the relegation zone with a shock success of their own at Tottenham on Saturday. But he knows just what kind of test his side will face as they go in search of what would be a piece of club history – a third successive Premier League win.

“I would be thinking that if I was a Manchester United player. I would be rubbing my hands with glee that we were coming up. Go and have a look at the bookmakers and see what they are saying. They are not stupid. There are no skint ones.

“But you know my view on that, don’t you? It doesn’t always work out that way. The lads who are playing will be wanting to win the game.”