It's back, and Manchester is all a quiver because it's back. It's been four years, during which Manchester City suffered the distress of staging local derbies against the likes of Stockport County, Macclesfield Town and Wigan Athletic. But this morning at 11.30 the original Manchester derby returns.

City entertain United at Maine Road and it seems like the whole region has been consumed by derby fever. As the United chairman, Martin Edwards, said this week: "The city has missed these encounters. They give the place renewed vigour."

That's one way of putting it. Anyone who witnessed the ferocity of the tackling in Denis Irwin's August testimonial between the two clubs - a game Irwin described as "One of the toughest I have ever played in" - would have "vigour" a few places behind "dirty" and "violent" when it came to describing the challenges on view.

The expectation is that today's game, the 126th meeting, will be as physical, perhaps more so, as any in the past. City may be hovering anxiously over the relegation zone after their return to the Premiership in May, while United continue to cruise effortlessly along on top of the division; but United know they will need to be at their most resolute if they are to depart Maine Road with at least one point.

Given the hostile atmosphere anticipated, United could do with their biggest influence being present, but on this of all days Alex Ferguson will find himself watching the match on a television screen in South Africa, where his son is getting married. Apparently the family Ferguson got their dates mixed up.

Instead, Steve McLaren, fresh from coaching England in Italy in midweek, will oversee United, having consulted with Ferguson about the line-up over the telephone. "He'll not be ringing me during the game," said McLaren, "but he's been kept abreast of things and we'll pick a team together."

McLaren then stressed the need for United to retain their composure in the face of any provocation. Few would disagree that if the game turns into a football match rather than a battle, United will win, and McLaren said: "We have to keep our control and not get involved in the hype. Our players are used to tension and big matches. I will be speaking to them beforehand, reminding them that they are professionals and that they will have to act that way. There have been mentions of bloodbaths in the papers, but we've got to keep control.

"Everybody says the derbies are always special wherever you live," he said. "The Merseyside people will say theirs is special, Bristol people will say theirs is special and Glasgow people will say theirs is special. For some people it's life or death, but for us it's just another football match.

"I know the feelings from the fans' point of view and I know what derbies are all about. I'm not really concentrating on their feelings or what they think about the game, I'm just concentrating on ours. It's a Premier League game, it's three points at stake.

"I know it's going to be a special game, a special match, but for us we're used to big games and this is just another one of them. "Everybody is aware of what it means to the fans. All the players know that, everyone knows how big it is, but at the end of the day it's a football match. All we are playing for are three points."

Fortunately for McLaren, all those who were carrying an injury are declared fit - Wes Brown, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt. But even with Andy Cole out for two months there is no place in the squad for Northern Ireland's David Healy, a fact that will dismay the young reserve striker.

Joe Royle, who had his share of Manchester derbies in the mid-Seventies with City, has a concern about Paulo Wanchope, but otherwise he sees the game as another indicator of just how far City have travelled. "This is for the fans," he said, "for all those dark days, defeats at Lincoln and York. That is all recent history and we must not forget that.

"It's a massive game, and the time the fans have waited for it makes it totally futile to say it doesn't matter more than any other game, because for the fans it does."

The tense situation could have done without Alfie Haaland wading in with contentious words. Haaland, whom Roy Keane tried to kick when sustaining his knee injury three years ago when Haaland was a Leeds player, criticised the United captain for his recent "prawn sandwich" outburst. "It seems clear Keane is quite happy to take home £50,000 a week," said Haaland, "but then he moans about the corporate fans who are basically paying his wages. Perhaps Roy could offer to have his pay halved and let a load more passionate fans in for free. But somehow I doubt that will happen."

By the way, there's another derby on this afternoon, in the northeast, where Newcastle and Sunderland lock horns. This was the fixture in which Ruud Gullit left out Alan Shearer last season, and became Gullit's last game in charge, and Shearer yesterday described it as the lowest point of his career. Whoever loses today's derbies will probably utter similar sentiments.