UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL COUNTDOWN:Rio Ferdinand is aiming to join the great Manchester United defenders by lifting tomorrow night's European Cup, reports Emmet Malone

WHILE THE Chelsea players are aiming to win the club's first Champions League title tomorrow night, Manchester United's Rio Ferdinand is hoping to secure a sort of parity of esteem with some of the club's greats by the time the final whistle sounds at the Luzhniki Stadium.

"In my eyes, to be considered a real Manchester United player, you need to be part of a winning Champions League team," says the 29-year-old defender. "That is my view. This club has got great traditions, great history and a great winning mentality. They have won league championships and enjoyed great European nights. Those sides are revered and remembered by everyone. So to be part of a winning Champions League team would put us up there among those kind of guys."

For Ferdinand, who may captain United on the night, lifting the trophy would complete a dramatic journey to the pinnacle of the professional game. Having won over previously sceptical fans with a string of impressive performances alongside Nemanja Vidic, the Londoner has signed a new deal that will keep him at Old Trafford until he is 36. A winner's medal tomorrow night, he reckons, would be payback for the way he has applied himself over the last couple of years under Alex Ferguson and give him at least a shot of being remembered with the same affection of some of the club's very best defenders.

"I knew when I signed my last contract (in 2005) that I had to change the opinions people had of me and I think I've done that," he says. "You can only be as good as your team, but if your team are doing well, that puts you in a better position and I've worked hard in the gym and on the training ground which has paid off.

"Frank Lampard senior always used to tell us when we were kids you get out of the game what you put in. Those words still ring true. I wouldn't make any claims for myself but this is the most consistently good football I have ever played."

Part of the improvement, he says, is that, "coming to a club like United matures you". In fact, when pressed about the change of lifestyle that gradually followed moving north and later becoming a father, Ferdinand admits that life in London provided a few too many temptations while Ferguson's legendary ability to keep close tabs on the social lives of his players around Manchester has had something of a sobering effect.

"I could have stayed in London with clubs there after I left West Ham but I made a conscious decision to get out of London because I was enjoying the finer things in life rather than the football," he laughs. "The workload you have means it has to be different and apart from anything else, with the profile you have, you will get found out."

While the older Lampard was an influence on his early career, Frank junior was a friend and Ferdinand used to stay over on Saturday nights through his teens, a time when he was treated like one of the family by Frank's recently deceased mother, Pat.

"I spoke to Frank via texts around that period and it was a tragedy what happened," he says. "She was a fantastic lady but he seems to be dealing with it in the best way he can," he continues.

"His saving grace is playing football because when you go out on the pitch you kind of leave anything negative on the outside. That is probably your resting period when you are out training and playing football. His performance against Liverpool in that semi-final second leg was outstanding. To take a penalty in that situation, and with the added pressure of his mum dying, was phenomenal really."

Aside from his friendship with Lampard there is an international rivalry with John Terry to be considered tomorrow night. The pair are both contenders to captain England in the forthcoming World Cup campaign with the early evidence suggesting that Ferdinand may be the preferred choice of Fabio Capello.

That Ferdinand benefits from playing alongside somebody with Terry's fearless approach to the defensive side of the game has been underlined by the arrival of Vidic with the Serb's strengths seeming to make up for the Englishman's shortcoming on the big occasions this year.

"I love playing with him," says Ferdinand. "He is a great fella. I get on with him really well off the pitch as well. We had kids at the same time so there are a lot of similarities there as well.

"He is someone who wants to do well, wants to achieve things and improve his own game. I think we spur each other on like that. We also complement each other pretty well. He chucks his head at anything. He does it and he doesn't care if he gets hurt although he doesn't want to keep getting broken noses every week otherwise he will end up looking like Steve Bruce."