RYAN Nelsen has backed Robbie Savage to put the needs of the team before any personal vendettas as Blackburn Rovers aim to exact their revenge on Manchester United tonight.

When the teams last met at Old Trafford seven days ago, Savage and United defender Rio Ferdinand were at the centre of a half-time tunnel bust-up that marred the second leg of their Carling Cup semi-final.

Ferdinand sparked the confrontation when he barged into Savage and allegedly told the Rovers midfielder to stay on his feet' as he left the field at the end of a feisty first half.

Incensed by that remark, Savage then chased the England international down the tunnel and allegedly kicked Ferdinand, who responded by throwing a punch before team-mates split them up.

Now, intriguingly, the feuding pair could find themselves in direct opposition to each other this evening if Sir Alex Ferguson sticks Ferdinand in midfield again, a tactic he employed successfully at Wolves in the FA Cup on Sunday.

Such a battle could have potentially explosive consequences, but Nelsen insists Savage is only focused on doing his best for the team, rather than trying to settle an old score.

"Sav is an experienced player and he knows exactly what is needed for a game like Manchester United," said the Kiwi.

"He doesn't complain about what he gets or what he gives out, he knows it's all part of the game, and I don't expect that to change tonight."

Predictably, Savage was painted as the villain in certain sections of the national press following his clash with Ferdinand, even though the Welsh firebrand was more sinned against than sinner.

However, when you have as much previous' as Savage does, it's inevitable that people will jump to the wrong conclusions about a player who has always suffered from an image problem.

"He's actually a fantastic guy, a great professional, a great family man, and a great guy to have around the locker room," said Nelsen.

"He's a character and if we were all made from the same mould, life would be pretty boring.

"You don't play over 400 games and have the career that Robbie Savage has had without having a tremendous amount of talent, so I think his record speaks for itself.

"I don't think he needs to answer any critics."

As for the game itself, Nelsen is expecting another close encounter, similar to both legs of the Carling Cup semi-final, which Rovers ended up losing 3-2 on aggregate.

Responding to questions about the fiery nature of those clashes, the New Zealand international said: "I thought those games were both great from a neutral's point of view. They were both fairly even.

"Maybe United deserved to go through over the two legs, but I didn't think there was much between the two teams."

After crashing out of both the Carling and FA Cups over the space of the last week, Rovers are now left to concentrate on the league.

But Nelsen believes he and his team-mates still face 16 mini' cup finals between now and the end of the season as they chase a top six finish and a place in the UEFA Cup.

He added: "We've just got to take one game at a time.

"There's 16 games left and there's a long way to go.

"We'd like to go on a nice run again but, in reality, there are a lot of teams vying for the same thing, so it's going to be very difficult."