Sir Alex Ferguson has set his Manchester United players a
90-point target to win the Barclays Premier League.
United have endured a miserable couple of days since their shock
defeat at Burnley.
Professional and amateur analysts have been offering Ferguson
their advice, with most arguing it is time the Scot spent another
chunk of the £80million received from Real Madrid for Cristiano
Ronaldo to bring in a speedy forward.
Yet Ferguson has no intention of abandoning his policy of
sticking with the players he already has, although he realises
there is not too much margin for error.
"I will not be buying anyone," he stressed.
"I made the point - and I am sure of it. This is a great group
of players.
"Yes, we would like to score goals. We have to step up to the
mark and I am quite confident we can do that."
United must step up to the mark on Saturday because, by
Ferguson's reckoning, another 29 wins are needed to clinch an
unprecedented fourth successive league championship.
"There is not much leeway," he said.
"Last season we had a points total of 90 and even though we say
it is the most competitive league, you still have to think of that
figure to be the winner.
"Liverpool got 86 last season, which is an exceptional total
too, but they only finished second."
Clearly, in order to achieve the short-term objective of
extending a nine-match winning sequence and the long-term aim of
landing more silverware, United need to start finding the net on a
regular basis.
So far, all they have been able to manage is a single Wayne
Rooney goal, with both Dimitar Berbatov and Michael Owen failing to
take opportunities to get off the mark.