Gary: Hard Work Starts Here

United might be top of the league, but club captain Gary Neville is refusing to get carried away.

Dimitar Berbatov’s late winner at the Reebok Stadium saw the Reds leapfrog Liverpool at the top of the table, if only until Rafa Benitez’s side play Everton on Monday evening.

But Gary Neville has won enough trophies to know the only time league position counts is on the last day of the season.

“We’re experienced enough to know that nothing’s won in January,” Neville told MUTV. “We’re top of the league now but we can be knocked off. We’ll only know how significant this result was at the end of the season.

“[In December] our aim was to get through the Club World Cup trip to Japan and still be in contention. We’ve done that and we’re top now, but the really hard work is still to come.”

At times on Saturday it looked as if United would never find a way past Bolton goalkeeper Jussi Jaskelainen. But Neville says he never gave up hope, even as the clock ticked ever closer to the 90 minute mark.

“I remember looking at the clock and there was a minute left,” Neville said. “But at this club you never think you’re out of the match – you always know you’ll get another chance. That’s been the motto down the years: we’ll always get a chance.

“And we got that against Bolton. Carlos Tevez did absolutely brilliantly down the inside right channel. He got into those areas all day, particularly in the first half and we kept playing it into him. He was very dangerous for us.”

Of course, Berbatov’s header wasn’t the first goal United have scored in the dying minutes this season. In fact, the Reds’ winner at Bolton was the 19th occasion United have scored in the final 15 minutes of games this season.

“We’ve had to do that a few times recently,” Neville said. “I’m thinking about Sunderland, Stoke and now Bolton. All those teams have played in a similar way and ended up with no reward because we’ve remained patient and not lost our concentration at the back.

“We know someone from our team can create a bit of magic or one of the defenders will lose their man. And the more tired the opposition gets, the more difficult it is for them to stay with our players.”