Lescott is loud ’n proud

LES BE 'AVING YOU ... Man City's Joleon Lescott

MANCHESTER CITY believe they have rammed the 'noisy neighbours' tag down Alex Ferguson's throat.

Manchester United boss Fergie pinned the nickname on City after a derby victory.

But defender Joleon Lescott said: "It's an unfair label. We're not just making noise, we're top of the league and rightly so. We're the team to beat.

"We take it with a pinch of salt now. We took it as a bit more disrespectful at the start but even now they've started to regret saying it because we're consistent and a good team."

City host United in the FA Cup third round tomorrow in their first meeting since Lescott and Co thrashed United 6-1 at Old Trafford in October.

Lescott, 29, said: "After that game we could have been really noisy but we showed respect."