Ferguson dismisses threat of 'cocky' rivals

Sir Alex Ferguson launched an incendiary first offensive on the eve of Old Trafford derby weekend last night, insisting that a "cocky" Manchester City had only started the season well because of "soft" fixtures and declaring that if one of his players had behaved like Emmanuel Adebayor last Saturday, he would "take them into a dark room".

Adebayor's stamp on the face of a prone Robin van Persie was extraordinary, Ferguson said. "It was surprising [behaviour]. I couldn't believe it. He was very aggressive, the boy." He also believes Adebayor's goal celebration that afternoon was more serious than Gary Neville's before Liverpool fans at Old Trafford in 2006, which brought United a £5,000 fine from the FA.

The United manager also declared that City had to win the league to justify their spending but would struggle to penetrate the top four, despite putting four goals past Arsenal last Saturday. "I think they've got seven centre-forwards now, which is crazy, just amazing, but when you have spent that amount of money, and the wages they are paying, you have to win the league with that kind of investment and that's where the difficulty will come for them," said Ferguson, who will discuss the derby at greater length at his weekly media briefing this morning.

"It's going to be very difficult for them to win the league when you see the likes of ourselves, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal because they've got to beat the four of us at some point this season to get the league. It's very difficult to get into the top four and it's even more difficult to get into the top one, and that's what this league is all about – being number one."

City's "Welcome to Manchester" poster, adorned by Carlos Tevez, is still riling Ferguson – two months after it prompted him to pronounce City a "small club with a small mentality" and say "all they can talk about is Manchester United".

The poster has contributed to "the rivalry going up a notch in the past few months", as Ferguson put it last night. "They've been a bit, how can I put it, cocky; yes, a bit cocky," he told the Sirius XM satellite radio station in the United States. His prediction that Sunday will be "quite a volatile" match seems even more accurate given these comments. When it was put to Ferguson that third-placed City, who are level on points with second-placed United having played a game fewer, had started the season well he was indignant. "They [City] have had a softish start to the season, with two or three easier games," he declared.

His only concession was that City would go to Old Trafford in a confident mood. "Their result on Saturday was the one that surprised people because scoring four goals against Arsenal was an emphatic result," he said. "So they have had a good start and when you get a good start it can galvanise you and give you confidence."

The 3-1 win at Tottenham Hotspur last Saturday has galvanised United and their manager. United "played fantastically well on Saturday, one of our best performances for a long time", the manager declared.

He hinted that, as expected, the players left out of United's squad against Besiktas on Tuesday – Ryan Giggs, John O'Shea, Rio Ferdinand and Darren Fletcher – might play a part on Sunday. Anderson, Gary Neville, Johnny Evans and Michael Carrick might give way. "All of [the unused ones] are important players, but it was important for us to use our squad and hopefully the right decision."