Sven urges City fans to pay respect

MANCHESTER, England -- Manchester City manager Sven-Goran Eriksson has urged their supporters to respect the minute's silence at Sunday's derby with United.

The capacity crowd at Old Trafford will be paying respects to the eight Manchester United players who died in the Munich air disaster 50 years ago.

The derby comes just four days after the official anniversary commemorations which were held on Wednesday at Old Trafford and at the scene of the crash in Germany.

Eriksson hopes there is no repeat of the interruptions which marred the silence before England's match with Switzerland in midweek.

The Swede raised the issue on the club's Web site. "It was disappointing that period of silence at the England game was disrupted and I hope everybody on Sunday will show maturity and respect for everyone who died at Munich.

"For anything else to happen would be a huge disappointment," he said.

City and their official supporters club floated the idea of a minute's applause to mark the occasion, but United rejected the idea saying silence was more appropriate.

United manager Sir Alex Ferguson also called on the 3,000 City fans due to come to the game to respect the period of silence. "I hope it is a motivation for the players, absolutely," said Ferguson.

"It is a responsibility for them to do well on Sunday. It's a big day for the club. There was some apprehension before this week hoping it all went smoothly, and I was proud of all the staff.

"I have always been proud to be manager of this club and on Wednesday I was even prouder and it made me realize I was the manager of one of the greatest clubs of all time."

Sunday's clash gives City the chance of a rare Premier League double over the reigning champions and new $8 million signing Benjan Mwaruwari is set to make his debut as a lone striker.

"I think he will fit in very well, he's played by himself for Portsmouth many times, and I hope he can play on Sunday," Eriksson said.

"He's a very good footballer, he's scored 12 goals in the league so far this season which is a good record. When we had the opportunity to take him, I did not hesitate at all, my reaction was 'yes, let's take him'.

"He's 29, he has a lot of experience, he's very strong and is a proven goalscorer. We need that, that's for sure," added Eriksson. E-mail to a friend