Joleon Lescott believes that Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson regrets calling Manchester City their "noisy neighbours".

The two sides meet at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday in the pick of the third round FA Cup ties.

Despite the label, Lescott believes that United respect City a lot more since they topped the Premier League table.

"We take [the noisy neighbours term] with a pinch of salt now. We felt it was a bit disrespectful at the start, but I think even now they've started to regret saying it because we're consistent and a good team," said Lescott.

"It's an unfair label. We're not just making noise, we're top of the league and rightly so. We know now that wherever we go we're the team to beat.

"I think a lot more United fans take us a lot more seriously now. We're their main competition for the league at the moment."

City's FA Cup triumph last season was their first major trophy in 35 years.