The Red Devils have been honouring the eight players who died alongside 15 other passengers - including former Manchester City goalkeeper Frank Swift - all week, with the clash at Old Trafford on Sunday set to cap off the memorials.

There will be a minute's silence - which City officials including manager Sven-Goran Eriksson have appealed for visiting fans to respect - and both teams will play in traditional, unsponsored jerseys to honour the occasion.

But Ferguson, aware of concerns that a small minority of the City crowd will not respect the silence, admits his initial reaction when he was presented with the fixture list was an angry one.

"When i saw what the fixture was at this time at the beginning of the season I said 'who the hell chose that?'," the Scot told the Sunday Express.

"It puts pressure on the clubs. We could easily have had Middlesbrough at home or something like that.

"There was no opportunity given to change it. I hope it's a good game, the crowd have a part to play in that."