Chris Smalling intends to seek inspiration from Sir Alex Ferguson as he takes his first tentative steps on the Manchester United career ladder.

Smalling picked up his first winners' medal at Wembley yesterday as United overcame Chelsea 3-1 to clinch the Community Shield.

For the former Fulham man it was a special moment as it confirmed his status as a member of the Red Devils squad.

But the 21-year-old realises for others it was a more familiar occasion.

Ferguson was collecting the trophy for a record ninth time for example. Yet Smalling was struck by just how much the occasion meant to the veteran Scot.

"The manager is a real inspiration," said Smalling.

"It is credit to how much he wants to win things.

"He stressed to us all before the game that he still has the joy each day to come in for training. Now he is looking to us to give something back to him in terms of winning trophies."

Smalling is quickly getting used to his new surroundings, a process aided, he believes, by the absences of Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic from United's pre-season tour of North America.

It provided Smalling with the opportunity to feature in the five tour games more often than he might have expected.

And while he accepts life at first will consist of back-up appearances to United's first-choice centre-half and automatic deputy Jonny Evans, who slotted into Ferdinand's position for Sunday's game as the England skipper remained sidelined by a knee injury, he is setting his standards high.

"You have to show the manager what you are capable of in training and in the games you do get," he said.

"It is going to be hard and I have noticed a step up in standard.

"In terms of the general tempo and training it has been a real improvement but it has been a real joy so far."

Edwin van der Sar has revealed how Sir Alex Ferguson’s faith convinced him to play on.

The veteran Dutchman, who turns 40 this year, was in outstanding form as United clinched the Community Shield.

Despite considering hanging up his boots last season, he signed a one-year extension to his Old Trafford contract and proved he still has what it takes to be United’s No1 with a series of top-class saves at Wembley.

It only confirmed that Ferguson was right to put off his search for a new keeper this summer in the belief that he can eek one more year out of the former Holland international.

“The manager gave a bit of a team talk before the match today,” said Van der Sar. “He said he was happy I stayed and that I can still do this.

“That keeps you going and the other players keep you going as well. It’s a nice place to be.”

Van der Sar wasn’t the only United player who looked determined to avenge the surrender of the title to Chelsea.

Paul Scholes, Nemanja Vidic and Antonio Valencia were all outstanding as double winners Chelsea were swept aside while Javier Hernandez continued his impressive strike-rate and

Dimitar Berbatov rounded off the scoring with a sublime lob.

Van der Sar is convinced United have the quality to wrest back the title.

“It was important for the players to get some action,” he said. “There were a lot of players on the pitch who haven’t played many games in the pre-season.

“Wayne Rooney, Michael Owen and Ji-Sung Park all played a big part in the first half and Dimitar Berbatov, Chicharito and Nani came on and did well in the second. It shows that the strength of the squad is good. We created a lot of chances and deserved to win.”

Despite entering the twilight of his career, Van der Sar says he has learned how to handle the rigours of playing for so long.

“It was so long ago that I was 20 and did my first pre-season that I forget how tired I was at that time,” he said.

“But you learn from experience of how to cope with the high intensity of training where as back then the excitement would have carried me through.”

Meanwhile, another veteran, Ryan Giggs, insists victory in the Community Shield will be worth nothing if United do not start the season with a bang against Newcastle.

“It’s always nice to win this game,” he said. “The fans come to Wembley and want to see a show and I thought we did that.

“I thought we controlled most of the game. Chelsea are a good side and they had possession but they weren’t hurting. They had some half chances but Edwin pulled off some great saves.

“But it has no bearing on the season. It’s nice to win but the real stuff starts next week.”