A pre-match pep talk from captain Wayne Rooney inspired Manchester United to Sunday's victory over Manchester City, according to team-mate Daley Blind.
United triumphed 4-2 over their bitter rivals courtesy of goals from Ashley Young, Marouane Fellaini, Juan Mata and Chris Smalling, with Rooney laying on the hosts' third goal and leading the line intelligently despite failing to get on the scoresheet himself.
But Blind has since revealed that Rooney's contribution to the victory began prior to kick-off as he urged his team-mates to use a run of four consecutive derby defeats to City as added motivation.
“It was a thing what was always in our minds,” Blind said of United's previous losses to City. “Everyone knew how important this game was, not only because it’s a rat race in the last games, but also because of the history of the last four games.
“Wayne Rooney mentioned that just when we got outside. He just mentioned it before the game to all the players – everyone is already sharp at the moment but it is still something you have in mind when you go on to the pitch.
“You saw how everyone was fighting for each other. Maybe after the first five minutes we were a bit like ‘what is happening here?’ but after that we picked it up again and we did very well. And with the crowd behind us, it was amazing.”
United's win saw them tighten their grip on third place and extended their lead over fourth-placed City to four points with six games to play.
Louis van Gaal's men will face another stiff test when they take on leaders Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
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