United face City at Old Trafford on Sunday in one of the most eagerly anticipated derby clashes for years.
“It’s hard for the United fans to say it but if City emerge as a trophy-winning team I suppose it would be good for Manchester,” he told the News of the World.
“The whole footballing world has been focused on Manchester for the last year or so because of the trophies we’ve been winning and what City have spent.
“It has to be good for the city to have two teams at the top. Hopefully we will be at the very top, ahead of them.
“It’s good they’re no longer the spoilers. They are up there with a lot of quality.”
“We are not really more intent on reinforcing United’s status as top dogs, though, I don’t think we ever look at games like that,” he added.
“We just look at it as it is – it’s a derby and we want to win. You never want to lose a derby but you have to look at the bigger picture.
“There are three points at stake and hopefully we can take those points and get further up the table to where we want to be.”
