O'Shea relives derby-day blues

John O’Shea has revealed the mood at Manchester United after last season’s derby-day disaster was so bad it felt like someone had died.

And if the Red Devils were expecting Alex Ferguson to ease their misery they were sadly mistaken. Instead, the fiery Scot laid into his team as never before.

No wonder O’Shea is not contemplating defeat when Kevin Keegan brings his City side across to Old Trafford tomorrow.

“Even if the manager hadn’t said anything we would still have been upset,” said the Waterford-born defender.

“The mood around the training ground for a couple of days afterwards was awful. It was like there had been a death in the club. Then the manager added to it by giving us a huge rollicking.

“We have to put the memory of that game behind us and make sure that we get a victory.”

For once, City enjoyed the better of their meetings with United, grabbing an Old Trafford draw to go with their home win later in the campaign.

The chances of an away win tomorrow look slim though. It is 1974 since the Blues last won at Old Trafford, when Denis Law’s famous back-heel sent his old club down.

In addition to the weight of history, City are also suffering their worst run of results since Keegan joined the club over two years ago.

Sunday’s goalless draw at Everton extended their winless streak to seven matches, during which time they have scored only twice.

O’Shea cautioned against overconfidence though and insisted Mancunian pride should be an effective guard against complacency.

“The loss at Maine Road and draw at Old Trafford last season were not good enough, especially for the fans,” he said.

“It’s their big day and you have to put a show on for them. You have to remember they must go into work on Monday and we want to give them something to smile about.

“City are not up there with our main rivals so people might not think it is as big as some of the other games.

“But for us, this is a home game against our biggest rivals in the city. We want to win it to prove we are the best team in Manchester.”