Rio out to silence doubters

Rio Ferdinand has set his sights on winning the Europa League this year to make Manchester United's doubters eat their words.

Ferdinand wants silverware to make people eat their words

Rio Ferdinand has set his sights on winning the Europa League this year to make Manchester United's doubters eat their words. Following their Champions League exit in Basel last December, United were written off as a spent force. However they are still challenging for the Premier League title and, after a 2-0 win in Amsterdam against Ajax, look as if they will progress to the last 16 of the Europa League. "You can't sit still or worry about what people are saying," said Ferdinand. "At this club it doesn't happen. We just go out there and perform to the best of our capabilities. "We know we've got fans to go out and impress - we want them talking about us in the right way. "As players we demand the highest standards of ourselves and if we don't meet them the dressing room isn't a nice place to be. "You don't want to be in a position where you're going into a game and you're not fighting for titles." Ferdinand admits the 6-1 derby defeat last October brought him additional grief in the street, which perhaps in the past would not have happened on the streets of Manchester. "Now that they are up there challenging we're seeing more Manchester City kits around town and more people are talking about them," he said. "You didn't see that years ago. Now we want to shut those people up too."