Man City duo Wayne Bridge and Nigel de Jong will use the pain of defeat to Man United as motivation.
United defeat adds motivation for Bridge and De Jong
Manchester City duo Wayne Bridge and Nigel de Jong have vowed to use the pain of defeat to Manchester United as additional motivation in the race for the UEFA Champions League.
Roberto Mancini's side have lost the initiative in their battle with Tottenham for fourth spot in the Premier League following a late defeat in the Manchester derby on Saturday lunchtime as Paul Scholes settled a tense encounter at Eastlands.
United also secured a victory over their neighbours in September when Michael Owen scored a controversial injury-time winner, while City also suffered defeat in the two-legged Carling Cup semi-finals.
Bridge, who returned from injury against Sir Alex Ferguson's men on Saturday, is now using the pain of defeat as an incentive to finish fourth in the league.
The left-back said in the
Daily Mirror: "The momentum is perhaps with Spurs, but at the same time we know that fourth place is still in our hands.
Hurt
"If anything, losing like we did has just made us even more determined, that was the mood in the dressing room afterwards
"We will be working even harder to make sure that we are in the top four come the end of the season."
Midfielder De Jong echoed the sentiments of his team-mate as City aim to forget the meeting with United when they make the tricky trip to Arsenal this weekend.
"If we get fourth this will be forgotten - that is football," said the Dutchman in the
Daily Express. "If we can get into the Champions League, no-one will be complaining about the four games against United."
De Jong added: "Losing at home to United is going to hurt. But we are still in the fight. We have to try to bounce back and show people what a great team we are."
