The boss said that United, playing against Southampton, had managed to win the game even though a late equalizer ended the game with a draw.
The false result revived inspiration in the City players and extra effort was put in against West Ham to ensure that they stayed above their city rivals on the table.
Richards: “We thought they were winning 1-0. The manager said they had won, Arsenal had won and Chelsea had won, and so we had to win.
“Maybe it was a bit of reverse psychology but it was obviously nice. United will come strong.
"We just knew we had to win. If we had dropped points today, well... we watched Liverpool because they kicked off early.”