"They're difficult games for us, simply because of the emotional part," Ferguson told Sky.
"'Robbo' was one of my great players of all time, a great captain for me, and I think everybody at United wishes for him to stay up. But we're chasing second spot so it's a difficult game."
"When we go down to Southampton, you've got Harry and Jim Smith, I've been friends with Jim for a long, long time. It's not easy but we have to do our job. I always say you earn the right to win the league and you earn the right to stay in it."