Ferguson - We Can Handle The Pressure

Sir Alex Ferguson said pressure would not affect Manchester United's title run-in after a 2-1 win at Newcastle.

Ferguson saw his side restore their seven-point lead in the table with Wednesday's victory, after wins for Liverpool and Chelsea on Tuesday.

"The teams who play first and get a result will always say 'pressure on' but it doesn't make much difference to us," he said.

"You have to rely on and trust the players. It is nothing new to them."

Peter Lovenkrands stopped the clock on Edwin van der Sar's run without conceding a Premier League goal on 1,311 minutes after the Dutchman's fumble presented him with a simple chance.

But Ferguson believes his side's response, with goals from Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov, revealed their hunger for more silverware remains as keen as ever.

"It wasn't a great performance. We got off to a terrible start, and Newcastle were pumped up for it. We expected that and we should have dealt with it better," he said.

"But coming from 1-0 down was a good result for us. It required a lot of grit."

Ferguson acknowledged that the Magpies came close to setting the visitors an even stiffer test during a period of early dominance.

"Newcastle knew it was a massive game for them and went about their job in the right way," he said.

"We could have been 2-0 down actually. Obafemi Martins hit one by the post, and it was a hairy spell for us."

With United's sizeable lead over the chasing pack restored, Ferguson could afford to be relaxed about the end of Van der Sar's run of clean sheets.

"Edwin says himself he made a mess of it, and they had a couple of near things after that. It was going to happen some time, and it is out of the road now," he added.

United have the extra cushion of a game in hand over both their nearest challengers, and could deal a fatal blow to Liverpool's hopes when the two sides meet at Old Trafford a week on Saturday, 14 March.