Ferdinand content to wait for new deal

Rio Ferdinand is in no rush to sign a new Manchester United contract.

The defender's present deal is due to expire in the summer and Sir Alex Ferguson has spoken optimistically about the 33-year-old carrying on for at least another season. With his England career almost certainly at an end, and his long-standing back problems now apparently under control, Ferdinand has started all but two of United's Premier League games this term.

"It's always good to hear the manager say things like that but you just take every week and every month as it comes," Ferdinand told Inside United.

"The best thing to do is look at it at Christmas, then again in the summer to see how I am feeling and go again from there. But hearing the manager say things like that definitely puts a spring in your step."

Much like Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes before him, it has been suggested Ferdinand's international exile has had a positive impact on his club career.

Certainly he is now appearing on a more regular basis that he did a few seasons ago, although the defender feels it is too early to make any firm conclusions about how having an entire summer off has helped.

"I think it has but I will have a better idea in December and January when the games start coming thick and fast," he said.

"That's when it really hits you, you know the hard work has to start and you begin to think about the home stretch.

"I will probably get a better gauge of where I am fitness-wise and the benefit of having the summer off then."