Smalling picked up his first winners' medal at Wembley as United overcame Chelsea 3-1 to clinch the Community Shield on Sunday. For the former Fulham man it was a special moment as it confirmed his status as a member of the Red Devils squad. But the 21-year-old realises for others it was a more familiar occasion. Ferguson, for example, was collecting the trophy for a record ninth time. Yet Smalling was struck by just how much the occasion meant to the veteran Scot. "The manager is a real inspiration," said Smalling. "It is credit to how much he wants to win things. "He stressed to us all before the game that he still has the joy each day to come in for training. Now he is looking to us to give something back to him in terms of winning trophies." Ferguson's place near the top of English football history has long since been assured. Smalling's battle is only just beginning. It is only two years since he was turning out for Maidstone is almost total obscurity. Roy Hodgson plucked him away from the Kent outfit and dropped him into Fulham's squad but the Greenwich-born player only made 19 appearances for the Cottagers before Ferguson stepped in to complete a rise of meteoric proportions. Smalling is quickly getting used to his new surroundings, a process aided, he believes, by the absences of Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic from United's pre-season tour of North America. It provided Smalling with the opportunity to feature in the five tour games more often than he might have expected. And while he accepts life at first will consist of back-up appearances to United's first-choice centre-half and automatic deputy Jonny Evans, who slotted into Ferdinand's position at Wembley as the England skipper remained sidelined by a knee injury, he is setting his standards high. "You have to show the manager what you are capable of in training and in the games you do get," he said. "It is going to be hard and I have noticed a step up in standard. "In terms of the general tempo and training it has been a real improvement but it has been a real joy so far."
