Rio delighted with United return

Published Sep. 15, 2010 3:15 p.m. ET

foxsports

The England skipper was pleased to have completed the full 90 minutes for Sir Alex Ferguson's side as the SPL champions went away from Old Trafford with a valuable point following a goalless draw. Although Ferdinand was disappointed with the result, the defender was glad to have played the whole match. It was the first time since the end of May that the 31-year-old had clocked up 90 minutes - when he played in England's World Cup warm-up against Japan. And despite the goalless draw, Ferdinand was pleased to have been given the opportunity to play the entire game. He told the club's official website: "It was nice to be back, playing football. I've waited a long time." Ferguson made 10 changes to the starting line-up against the Glasgow giants, however, Ferdinand feels the changes may prove more beneficial in the long term. "It's a squad game and the manager wants to give players minutes on the pitch," he said. "There are people who haven't played many games - myself included - so we're obviously delighted with the changes. "But the manager makes changes most weeks and it's never a problem." Meanwhile, Chris Smalling was delighted to gain some Champions League experience after making his full competitive debut for the club. The former Fulham defender enjoyed every minute of his run-out despite the result, saying: "It's one of the biggest competitions a player can play in and I thoroughly enjoyed it. "I've watched so many of these games on television so to be part of one at a club like United is fantastic. "Unfortunately, we just couldn't break them down and everyone is disappointed with the result. "The next game against Valencia (on September 29) is going to be very important now. "Hopefully we can move on quickly from this result, take the positives from it and score a few more goals in our next few games."