Roberto Mancini's side overcame United in the semi-finals of the FA Cup last season as they ended the club's 35-year trophy drought, while the current Premier League champions were humbled by the Italian's men at Old Trafford 6-1 earlier this season.

The Eastlands outfit currently hold a three-point lead over Ferguson's second-placed team in the Premier League, and the 70-year-old Ferguson believes the rivalry between the two sides will not be dying down anytime soon.

"The way we and our supporters should look at it is that we may as well get used to it, because they are not going to go away," Ferguson told Inside United.

"We played them in a semi-final last year and the year before, we're both in the Europa League this year and now we are facing them in the FA Cup."

"So we have to get used to the fact that City are going to be challenging for competitions along with us."

"There's every chance we're going to meet at some point, maybe not every year, but on average it's going to be pretty regular."

"It's a hard FA Cup draw for us, but it will be hard for them too."

The two sides meet in Sunday's third round FA Cup tie at Etihad Stadium.