'Lost respect' for Suarez, says Ferdinand

Manchester: Rio Ferdinand has revealed that he has "lost respect" for Luis Suarez after the Uruguayan refused to shake hands with Patrice Evra prior to Manchester United's 2-1 win over Liverpool at Old Trafford.

Saturday's encounter between the two sides saw Suarez start for the first time since returning from an eight-match suspension after being found guilty of racially abusing Evra last October.

Ferdinand told MUTV: "After seeing what I saw I decided not to shake his hand. He's not got the respect that he needs to have in these situations and acknowledge he's made a mistake and say sorry. I lost all respect for the guy after that."

$\'Lost respect\' for Suarez, says Ferdinand$

Suarez refused to shake hands with Evra prior to United\'s 2-1 win over Liverpool at Old Trafford.

The game's pre-match handshake was subject to a great deal of build-up and discussion prior to Saturday's clash.

Suarez's failure to shake Evra's hand was met by a firm grab of the Uruguay international's arm from the defender, before Ferdinand then refused to shake the Liverpool striker's hand.

"It's a touchy subject at the minute and things could have been put to bed a little bit easier if the handshake had been done," the England centreback said.

"It could have been resolved today, maybe, between the two people who are involved. After this, it's not great. It's disappointing. I expected more from the other guy but it wasn't to be."

Two goals from Wayne Rooney early in the second half sealed the three points for Alex Ferguson's side despite a goal from Luis Suarez then minutes from time.

"There are a lot of things going on both on and off the pitch. But the result was the most important thing," Ferdinand added.

"To win the game... unbelievable atmosphere. I thought both sets of fans were good. That was pleasing. Hopefully we can talk more about the football."

United striker Rooney, however, refused to be drawn into the controversy, insisting he was purely focused on footballing matters.

“We are all professional and we have to concentrate on our job on the pitch," he said.

“That’s between two individuals and is not for us to get involved with.”