Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has urged his players to act responsibly ahead of their FA Cup fourth round tie with Liverpool, BBC Sport reports. The meeting is the first between two since Luis Suarez racially abused United defender Patrice Evra at Anfield in October.
Suarez will not play as he is in the midst of his eight game ban because of the incident with Evra and Ferguson has not revealed whether Evra will play at Anfield. The French international will receive a certain amount of stick from the Anfield crowd, but is expected to start against the Reds. United will look to overcome Liverpool again in the FA Cup after their third round victory last season and Ferguson wants the fixture to go swimmingly.
The United boss said: ‘We want to make sure we are talking about the game, nothing else. There is a responsibility on the players to behave properly and both sets of fans. It is a massive game for both clubs. There is a tremendous profile on it. I am confident. We want to talk about the game of football. It is something you want to look forward to. That is what I intend to do. Our fans were terrific there this season. The stewards have a difficult enough job as it is. We should be helping.’
Ferguson still expects his side’s fans to be ‘positive, loud and witty’, which around 5,000 of them travelling to Anfield are expected to be. United have injury worries ahead of the game with Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand, Phil Jones and Nani all facing troubles.
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