RIO ON HIS WAY

Last updated : 20 October 2002 By editor

"I haven't been that happy with my form so far. I know I can do better than what I have been doing," Ferdinand told the Evening News.

"Off the field, I've settled in superbly but on the pitch, it takes you time to bed in football-wise at a club of this magnitude. I knew all the England lads before I came to Old Trafford but I didn't know many of the defence before. I hadn't played with Fabien Barthez, Laurent Blanc, John O'Shea or Mikael Silvestre so there was a bit of 'getting-to-know-you time' to be done there. You do need a settling-in period. When I went to Leeds from West Ham, it took me a couple of months to get my feet under the table on the pitch and feel entirely comfortable."

"I did OK before my injury but I'm not playing as well as I know I can," he added. "Our goals against record speaks for itself and that's pleasing. As a unit and a team, our goals against is very good but as an individual I know I can get better. I knew the pressure I was in store for at United. I wanted to test myself and was interested to see how I reacted to it. I think I have handled it quite well so far."

Ferdinand realised he had damaged his knee in Leverkusen last month: