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CHRIS SMALLING is after revenge at the Stadium of Light on Saturday.

Sunderland fans mocked Manchester United as they lost the title to City last season. Smalling said: “It was a horrible experience and what happened at Sunderland has motivated us all season.”

Defender Smalling’s team-mate Wayne Rooney will also be hungry to put one over Black Cats fans.

Striker Rooney was furious with the way they reacted in that final match of the campaign.

He said: “It was something myself and a lot of the players won’t forget. When the final whistle went, we didn’t really know what the score at City was.

“But then we heard the Sunderland fans cheering.

“They didn’t have the best of seasons so for them to be cheering like that was sad.”

The Red Devils had beaten Sunderland 1-0 and were champions at when the whistle went in their game.

But seconds later Sergio Aguero snatched the winner over QPR at The Etihad to grab the title.

The Sunderland fans then started cheering and doing the City ‘Poznan’ celebration.

Smalling added: “I was not involved at Sunderland. But I played in the previous game where I got the injury that caused me to miss the Euros, so if anything it was a double blow.”

United boss Alex Ferguson linked the reaction of the fans back to a similar situation 20 years earlier when United were defeated at Liverpool to lose the title to Leeds.

Ferguson said: “The young players came out that day and the Liverpool fans were asking for their autographs, Beckham, Giggs, Scholes, Neville, and they were tearing them up, tearing their autographs up.

“I said to Giggs and the boys ‘remember this day’.

“Those Sunderland fans were cheering for City.

“We won’t forget that, I’m telling you.”

 

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