Having eclipsed Liverpool's total of 18 league titles at the weekend, Sir Alex Ferguson could not resist having a dig at the Merseyside club at Manchester United's annual players' awards ceremony at Old Trafford last night.

On Sunday an intrepid group of United fans, with a getaway car waiting outside the ground, managed to hang a banner proclaiming "MUFC 19 times" from the Anfield Road End of Liverpool's ground as the home supporters launched into their traditional rendition of You'll Never Walk Alone before Liverpool's fixture against Tottenham. "I wish I had taken that banner to Liverpool on Sunday," Ferguson said. "I bet there were 76,000 fans wishing they had thought of that."

After taking time to rub salt into United's rival's wounds, Ferguson outlined his plans for title No20. "We have some ideas in mind," he said. "Hopefully we can get them put in place. I am looking at maybe three signings which would boost our overall quality in our team," he said.

Nani was named players' player of the year, while Javier Hernández took the fans' player of the year title.