Manchester United No2 Mike Phelan says they're picking over the bones of their massacre at the hands of Manchester City.

But he insists United won't dwell on their humiliation.

Phelan told the Manchester Evening News: "It is in the history books now and you have to live with that but you get an opportunity to work again, to look at the issues that caused us problems and deal with it.

"You can't hide from it. The players will hurt but they have another game to play. Normally we react well to a knock like we got on Sunday.

"We have a new group of players. It is a new unit we have put together. For some of them it is the first real big hit they have taken. We are going to find out now can they handle it. Can they take it on board? Can they learn from the game?

"It wasn't all bad. From a coaching point of view some of the game was okay but others we lost focus. That could be because it is a new group and everything has been going well. You reflect on that and you see what is in the players' lockers and the club's locker and how we move forward. We will. These things have happened before.

"We look at it, analyse it, try not to dwell too much on it and move on. It makes you reflect on what you have got, what you thought you had but you haven't.

"Sometimes you can get a little bit, not carried away, but everything is good because you are playing well, you are scoring goals and creating things, everyone is patting you on the back then you get a reducer. That is good when it happens. Sometimes a hard lesson learnt is a good lesson to build from.