John O'Shea has revealed the message of support he and his Manchester United teammates received whenever they lost a big match under Sir Alex Ferguson.
The former defender enjoyed a successful 12-year spell at Old Trafford in which he won five Premier League titles as well as the Champions League.
The majority of O'Shea's time at the club was filled with success but there were occasions upon which United tasted defeat in Europe and failed to win as many domestic trophies as their dominance perhaps deserved.
Defeat to Real Madrid in the Champions League in 2003 is one occasion when United felt they should have done better, and O'Shea has revealed how legendary manager Ferguson urged his side to use the disappointment as motivation to ensure they didn't repeat their mistakes.
"I always remember the manager talking about when we played Real Madrid in 2002/03," O'Shea told the club website.
"Myself, Wes (Brown), Rio (Ferdinand) and Mikael (Silvestre) were in the back four, the manager spoke about the age of us and the experience we needed to take from losing that tie.
"Every time we lost a final or lost a big game that made us miss out on winning a trophy or winning the league, the message was the same. 'Remember how you feel in this moment and take it into the next campaign. Don’t have this feeling again.'
"Those words go through your head before the next big game, and eventually you’re just conditioned for these situations."
