Rio driven to finish on high

Rio Ferdinand is approaching his 10th anniversary as a Manchester United player more hungry than ever to collect some silverware.

When Ferdinand walked through the doors of Old Trafford after joining for a then British record £29.1million fee in 2002, he said his time at United would be measured by trophies.

His haul is pretty impressive. He has won the Champions League, Club World Cup, two Carling Cups and a sixth Premier League title is seemingly on its way, with United eight points clear.

Yet the 33-year-old is not satisfied.

It is not just the ones that got away which rankle, it’s the knowledge that at some point in the not-too-distant future, his career will come to an end.

And the worst thing Ferdinand can imagine is to finish as a loser.

“There are not many players who leave this club doing exactly what they want to do,” he said ahead of tonight’s night’s trip to Wigan.

“It wouldn’t be good finishing your career with a loss, or by not winning something.

“The losses now do my head in. To think I wouldn’t be able to rectify it the season after because I had retired or left would rankle.

“I am not thinking about retirement. I am trying to play as long as I can. I have another year after this and I want to do another 10. But whenever it is, I would want to go out on a high note.”

It has long been suggested Ferdinand could end his playing days in Major League Soccer.

More recently, the growing impact of the Chinese League has been said to hold an allure.

Alex Ferguson still believes Ferdinand has a significant role to play as an elder statesman at United though.

It may come as a surprise to some that the Londoner could end up being bracketed with Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes, whose local connections forge a more obvious bond with the Red Devils.

Having already been at West Ham and Leeds, a decade ago, Old Trafford seemed like just another stepping stone for the most stylish England defender of his generation.

Ferdinand insists that was never his intention.

“My association with the club will be there forever,” he said.

“Moving on was never in my mind. That first press conference, when I walked through the doors of the club, seeing the manager, seeing the pictures of all the old players, I grasped it straight away.

“I wanted to be part of the history of this club and to do that I have to stay here for a good amount of time.

“I achieved that and hopefully I have a few more chapters.

Meanwhile, Wigan manager Roberto Martinez has received an apology from referees’ chief Mike Riley following his side’s controversial defeat at Chelsea on Saturday.

The Football Association have also confirmed the Spaniard will not face disciplinary action over post-match comments in which he claimed Wigan were “robbed” and the performance of an assistant referee was “disgusting”.

Relegation-threatened Wigan were beaten 2-1 in a stormy Barclays Premier League clash at Stamford Bridge after Branislav Ivanovic and Juan Mata struck from apparently offside positions.

Martinez spoke to Riley, of the Professional Game Match Officials Board, the day after the game and says he was told the body accepted mistakes were made.

Martinez said: “He just said he understands that at the level of refereeing in this league, they should get that call right.

“I think that is a very honourable way to face mistakes.

“We are all capable of making mistakes and it is about how you react to them.”

Martinez was strong in his criticism of the officials, particularly assistant Dave Bryan, after the game but, after speaking to Riley, had not been expecting FA action over his remarks.

He said: “I think they praised me because they were quite surprised I held myself back and I was so respectful.”

As a result of his performance at Stamford Bridge Bryan was subsequently stood down from tonight’s game between Blackburn and Liverpool.