Rio Ferdinand insists Manchester United showed their true character for the FA Cup 2-2 draw with Chelsea.

Ferdinand praised the way United bounced back after their Champions League dumping in midweek.

He said: "It just shows the character we have in this squad. We put Real Madrid to bed. It was a tough pill to swallow the other night.

"We dusted ourselves down and in the first-half showed that we have moved on from it mentally. We played some fantastic stuff, but also we were a little careless at times and we will have to learn from that.

"But there is a lot of experience in our changing room. Against Bayern Munich a couple of seasons ago the same happened.

"We have had the experience of being in that situation before. Maybe not to the magnitude of this week but at this club things come round thick and fast.

"After the midweek, we knew we had a big match to play at the weekend and we had to be right. We definitely were that in the first half.

"Maybe in the second half we tired a little and, along with being a bit careless, we put ourselves under more pressure. We should have had that game out of the way in the first half."