adminYoung and his United teammates return to league action against managerless Reading at Old Trafford today determined to get back on track after a pair of frustrating setbacks.
After being dumped out of the Champions League by Real Madrid, United blew a two-goal lead in a 2-2 draw with Chelsea in the FA Cup quarter-finals.
But Alex Ferguson’s side remain firmly on course to regain the English title from champions City after surging 12 points clear at the top.
And England international Young is convinced the experience of the likes of Ryan Giggs, Patrice Evra, Rio Ferdinand and Wayne Rooney, who have all won countless trophies with United, will ensure they don’t throw away their lead.
“When you move to a club like United, you look at the trophy cabinet and what they have won,” Young said.
“In the dressing room everybody is a born winner. The manager gives you that belief to win every game and win trophies.
“At a club like Manchester United winning is a habit. You go into every game wanting to win and there is a disappointment when you don’t do it, and that includes during training.
“Even there it is the same winning mentality you take that on to the pitch in games.”
Manchester United defender Jonny Evans has also warned his side not to give Manchester City even a glimmer of hope in the Premier League title race.
Sir Alex Ferguson’s side face Reading at Old Trafford in today’s late kick-off knowing second placed City can trim their rivals’ lead at the top to nine points if they win at Everton earlier in the day.
Last season United let slip an eight-point lead with just six games to go, but Evans believes they have learnt from their mistakes and are determined to ensure a similar meltdown does not happen with 10 games to go this term.
“This is the business end of the season,” he said. “We are in a great position in the league. We want to make sure we don’t give City any sniff of getting back in and closing the gap on us.
“It is an important couple of weeks. At this club you have this experience on how to deal with that.
“We have all seen what happened last year so it is up to us to make sure that does not happen again.
“I know we keep saying it but I think there will be an extra determination from us this year.”
However, Evans did give City a tiny piece of good news as the centre-back admitted United have been feeling drained following their Champions League exit and FA Cup quarter-final draw with Chelsea last week.
United lost controversially to Real Madrid in the Champions League last 16 before surrendering a 2-0 lead to Chelsea at Old Trafford in the FA Cup.
“We had a couple of days off after the Chelsea game,” Evans said. “The manager decided to give us an extra day or so to rest so we came on Wednesday and got the legs going again but it wasn’t too hard out there on the training pitch.
“Obviously, I didn’t play in the Real Madrid game so I wasn’t feeling physical tiredness but, on Sunday, I did feel a bit tired and a bit drained in the second half.
“I think the mental side of it drains you. There were a lot of emotions during the week and we have to try to switch off from that and prepare for the next match.
“I think what caught us out a bit against Chelsea at the weekend was we got off to a good start but the mentally-drained side really showed in the second half.”
While even City manager Roberto Mancini has conceded his team have only a slim chance of catching United, the club’s French left-back Gael Clichy has a more positive outlook.
City have only beaten Everton once in seven games during Mancini’s reign and David Moyes’ men will be desperate to defeat the champions at Goodison Park as they look to erase the bitter taste of last weekend’s FA Cup exit against Wigan.
But Clichy believes City’s epic fightback in the title race last season, when they came from eight points behind to overhaul United on the final day, should provide more than enough motivation to keep chasing Ferguson’s team.
“If you look at the scenario, it is actually not that much different from last season — eight points behind with six games to go last year, 12 behind with 10 to play this time around,” Clichy said.
“If United don’t make mistakes, they win the title, but everyone is saying United have to lose four games.
“That’s not true, if they draw a few matches we can make up points in that way.
“What we want to do is keep taking three points every week and really keep the pressure on United.”
While the fate of the title race remains in United’s hands, the battle to qualify for the Champions League is much harder to predict.
Third-placed Tottenham host Fulham knowing they must win to stay ahead of Chelsea, who are two points behind their London rivals in fourth place.
The Blues face West Ham at Stamford Bridge looking to build on that impressive Cup recovery against United.
Arsenal made a valiant effort to avoid elimination from the Champions League on Wednesday, winning 2-0 at Bayern Munich but losing the last 16 tie on away goals.
But there is no time for Arsene Wenger’s fifth placed team to feel sorry for themselves as they travel to Swansea looking to close the gap on Chelsea, who are five points ahead of the Gunners.
“Overall we had a good reaction against Bayern and it’s good for the future,” Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud said.
Fixtures
Today (all 5pm unless otherwise stated): Aston Villa v QPR, Everton v Manchester City (2:45pm), Southampton v Liverpool, Stoke v West Brom, Swansea v Arsenal, Manchester United v Reading (7:30pm).
Tomorrow: Chelsea v West Ham (6pm), Sunderland v Norwich (3:30pm), Tottenham v Fulham (5pm), Wigan v Newcastle (6pm). — AFP.
Online Reporter