Manchester United's Daley Blind has said he is ready for Sunday's derby against Manchester City after being surprised by the intensity of their first encounter earlier this season.
Netherlands international Blind said he had been shocked by some of the challenges that flew in as City won 1-0 at the Etihad in November.
But the United midfielder, who said he had settled in to life in Manchester, stressed he now knew what lay in store when faltering neighbours City -- now fourth in the table -- arrive at Old Trafford.
"The biggest memory of that first Manchester derby was when I saw one of our players on the ball in the middle of the pitch when suddenly a City player came flying in," the Daily Mirror quoted him as saying.
"He was off the ground and his leg was straight -- and it was only because he jumped out of the way that he was not injured severely.
"I was stood right next to the tackle. I turned to the referee and screamed: 'Hey, this is crazy.' But the referee didn't even blink, and it was then that I realised what this derby is about."
The 25-year-old, who joined United from Ajax last summer, said the more patient Dutch philosophy of passing football was impossible to achieve in the Premier League.
"You can't survive playing like that in England," he said. "The tempo and sheer speed of the game in the Premier League is like nowhere else in the world.
"There is a massive difference between here and the Dutch Eredivisie, and even more noticeable than the pace of the game is the ferocity of the matches.
"It is box-to-box stuff from the first minute to the last, but I absolutely love it."
Blind, who lives in the centre of Manchester, said he had enjoyed researching the city's historic rivalry with Liverpool -- a rivalry strongly represented on the football pitch.
"I find it really interesting," he said. "I know, for example, that Liverpool was a big industrial port, that used to be the big gateway for England.
"But then Manchester, with all its industry, took over as the most important place during the Industrial Revolution.
"I found out how they [United and Liverpool] became such enemies in the 1990s, when it was still 18-7 for Liverpool regarding League titles. Then Sir Alex Ferguson came and, by 2011, it was 19-18 to us."