Strachan: No Fergie feud

Celtic manager Gordon Strachan has put his feud with Sir Alex Ferguson behind him.

Strachan, who played under Ferguson at both Aberdeen and Manchester United, takes his Celtic side to Old Trafford to face The Red Devils in their opening UEFA Champions League group clash on Wednesday evening.

The former Coventry City and Southampton boss fell out with Ferguson after the Scot claimed Strachan 'couldn't be trusted an inch' in his autobiography published seven years ago.

Despite the comments, Strachan is not concerned about the past, as he looks ahead to Wednesday's big European clash.

"All the history between me and Fergie is an irrelevance to Wednesday's game," Strachan told the Sunday Mirror.

"He sat in my office recently for 40 minutes and we laughed and joked and talked about football and the old days.

"What anyone interprets from that is up to them."

Strachan knows the Scottish Premier League champions appear as underdogs to those outside of Scotland.

"Our fans actually expect us to go to Old Trafford and beat United," he added. "But the rest of the football world say we are the underdogs and can play without pressure.

"In Glasgow, and in Scotland as a whole, they'll want us to take the win - even though we are playing against one of the world's best teams in one of the world's best stadiums.

"I'm new to the Champions League and so are nearly all my players. The United boys have got years and years of experience of it. But there's no pressure off us going there."

Ferguson, meanwhile, is keen his United side do not turn Wednesday's contest with The Bhoys into a 'Battle of Britain' grudge match.

"I think the thing I have to get rid of for this match is the England v Scotland thing - we have to get rid of that completely because if we go down that road, then we will make it harder for ourselves," Ferguson said in The People.

"We have to rely on the quality and experience we have shown in most of our European games, particularly those at Old Trafford.

"The rivalry is the thing we have got to dismiss because if you get caught in the emotions of it, then it could be costly."

United are aiming to put last season's shock exit from the Champions League group stages behind them this term, with centre back Rio Ferdinand claiming the Old Trafford club have not been good enough in Europe recently.

"I came here to win trophies and try and take this club to the next level in Europe," Ferdinand told the News of the World.

"I arrived four years ago and in my first season, we won the league, but we didn't do well in the Champions League.

"In fact, since United won the Champions League in 1999, we haven't looked like getting anywhere near winning it, which has been disappointing.

"It's not been good enough - but we aim to improve."