Chelsea
Sir Alex Ferguson fears Chelsea's wounded pride may scupper Manchester United's hopes of landing an English league and cup double.
Ferguson's United side last week celebrated their first Premiership triumph in four years when they broke the London club's two-year stranglehold on the title.
And they will inflict another painful blow on Jose Mourinho's side if they can secure a memorable victory in this weekend's FA Cup final at the re-built Wembley Stadium.
Ferguson, though, has warned his players they have no hope of returning to Old Trafford with a second piece of silverware unless they switch off from their Premiership celebrations and match the determination of a Chelsea side fuelled by revenge.
"I am acutely aware that on the one side you have a wounded animal who have lost the league to us, on the other hand you have got a team with confidence," he said.
"And I just have to make sure there is no distinction between the two teams in terms of the desire to win.
"There is a difference in the sense of the achievement we have had in the last week. But I am experienced enough to know when to cut off all the celebrations.
"From Sunday onwards we were back to business and that is important."
Matches between the two sides have invariably been close in the three seasons since Mourinho took charge at Stamford Bridge.
And Ferguson said he was convinced that the showpiece cup final would be decided by the smallest of margins.
"There won't be a lot in it," he said.
"There have never been a lot of goals between the two sides in serious games so I don't expect a lot of goals. Hopefully we have enough in our locker to get it ourselves.
"I don't know whether there is more pressure on them. I don't know what is happening in their camp. I have no idea what is going on there."
With his squad now almost back to full strength, Ferguson said he would have to disappoint at least one of the fringe players who stepped into the starting line-up during the closing weeks of the league campaign.
Gabriel Heinze is expected to make way for Patrice Evra and, with Rio Ferdinand and Nemaja Vidic ready to resume their centre-back pairing, Wes Brown and John O'Shea will battle it out for the right-back spot.
-AFP
Sir Alex Ferguson fears Chelsea's wounded pride may scupper Manchester United's hopes of landing an English league and cup double.
Ferguson's United side last week celebrated their first Premiership triumph in four years when they broke the London club's two-year stranglehold on the title.
And they will inflict another painful blow on Jose Mourinho's side if they can secure a memorable victory in this weekend's FA Cup final at the re-built Wembley Stadium.
Ferguson, though, has warned his players they have no hope of returning to Old Trafford with a second piece of silverware unless they switch off from their Premiership celebrations and match the determination of a Chelsea side fuelled by revenge.
"I am acutely aware that on the one side you have a wounded animal who have lost the league to us, on the other hand you have got a team with confidence," he said.
"And I just have to make sure there is no distinction between the two teams in terms of the desire to win.
"There is a difference in the sense of the achievement we have had in the last week. But I am experienced enough to know when to cut off all the celebrations.
"From Sunday onwards we were back to business and that is important."
Matches between the two sides have invariably been close in the three seasons since Mourinho took charge at Stamford Bridge.
And Ferguson said he was convinced that the showpiece cup final would be decided by the smallest of margins.
"There won't be a lot in it," he said.
"There have never been a lot of goals between the two sides in serious games so I don't expect a lot of goals. Hopefully we have enough in our locker to get it ourselves.
"I don't know whether there is more pressure on them. I don't know what is happening in their camp. I have no idea what is going on there."
With his squad now almost back to full strength, Ferguson said he would have to disappoint at least one of the fringe players who stepped into the starting line-up during the closing weeks of the league campaign.
Gabriel Heinze is expected to make way for Patrice Evra and, with Rio Ferdinand and Nemaja Vidic ready to resume their centre-back pairing, Wes Brown and John O'Shea will battle it out for the right-back spot.
-AFP
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