Rio Ferdinand has insisted that Manchester United will "respect" the Europa League but understands that the Premier League champions may be mocked for dropping into the tournament.
The Red Devils will be drawn into the final 32 of the Europa League after failing to reach the knockout stages of the elite competition.
"We have to be prepared for the Europa League," The Mirror quotes Ferdinand as saying. "It's as simple as that. No matter what gets said, whether we're ridiculed or not, we have to respect the tournament and we'll go out there to try to win it.
"We've not been in the Europa League before, but we're in it now, and whatever competition we're in we don't want to come second or get knocked out in the early stages, so we'll try to win it.
"This type of feeling, you don't want feel it often - that bitter taste we have in our mouths now. The younger players who haven't been here long will know what it tastes like now and what it feels like. It's embarrassing to go out at this stage and any player with pride in his performance, his job, and what he does, doesn't want to feel that."
The North West side have been joined by their bitter rivals Manchester City in the Europa League following their group exit from the Champions League.
Danielle Joynson
