Manchester United great Sir Alex Ferguson says his rivalry with Liverpool was out of respect.

Ferguson, who is set to celebrate his 80th birthday on New Year's Eve, has discussed the nature of his rivalry with Liverpool in an interview with one of his former players, Gary Neville.

He said: “It's my respect of Liverpool.

"When I was the manager of St Mirren, I went down to Liverpool's training for a week and I saw the intensity of their training, the consistency they had, so when I came to United, they were winning all the titles.

"It's like when I was at Aberdeen, there's only two teams you need to beat in Scotland to win everything, that's Rangers and Celtic.

“When I came to United, there was only one team you needed to beat to win the league and that's Liverpool. That was my intention.

"I put everything into producing a team to beat them, not necessarily beat them every game but beat them throughout the weeks.

"I knew if we beat Liverpool, we're on the right path."