Looking to the future: Sir Alex Ferguson is confident
his team can successfully defend the Premier League title
Sir Alex Ferguson believes that if Manchester
United can 'survive' Sunday's trip to Tottenham, his side will have
a huge chance of retaining their Barclays Premier League
title.
Ferguson always felt a six-week run of fixtures from
mid-January onwards would hold the key to United's hopes of a
record 20th championship.
So far it couldn't have gone much better. Victories over
Arsenal and Liverpool, plus a point collected from a trip to
Chelsea when United found themselves three goals down in the second
half, have left them two behind leaders Manchester City, who have,
on paper, had a significantly easier time.
However, once this weekend - when City are at home to
second-bottom Bolton, is out of the way, the roles are reversed.
And that should mean United are still in the thick of it when they
head to the Etihad Stadium on April 30.
'It's going to be a massive game [at Spurs],' he told
Inside United. 'If we can survive that one, then we'll have a big
chance of winning the league.
'I would take it [being two points behind City going into
the game at the Etihad Stadium]. I would rather go there on level
points. But if we could go there within striking distance of being
top of the league, I'd take it.'
Although there have been a few fitness woes recently, with
Antonio Valencia and Tom Cleverley sidelined after picking up minor
knocks in the recent Europa League encounter with Ajax, the biggest
part of United's massive injury list has now cleared up.
High times: Tottenham, until their thrashing on Sunday,
were the form team
And that leaves Ferguson with an even greater
sense of optimism.
'I should have more players available than I've had in the
last few weeks because we've had a terrible spell of injuries,' he
said. 'But we've done the right thing in the treatment of Chris
Smalling and Phil Jones, we've given them a break.
'They are young players and they had been carrying little
strains for weeks. Then all of a sudden it hits them, and we had to
take stock, to get them back. We've given them a fair break and
they're fresh now.'
