Edwin: We Need To Be Mean Again

Edwin van der Sar is desperate to shut out Sunderland on Saturday as the Reds seek a first clean sheet in the Barclays Premier League for almost two months.

The Dutchman will be doing his utmost to halt the run of strikes conceded and he's urging his team-mates to be just as vigilant at the Stadium of Light.

"It’s not that the goals we are conceding are great goals from our opponents," Edwin told MUTV, after being beaten by two Porto efforts in the Champions League on Tuesday.

"Of course, we have to sort that out and start focusing on what we did very successfully for a long time this season.

"We need to get back to that way of defending and then we should be okay."

United's last league shut-out - in the 3-0 home win over Fulham on 18 February - was remarkably the 14th in a row. Yet the Reds have since conceded in defeats to Fulham (away) and Liverpool, and in victories over Blackburn, Newcastle and Aston Villa. The latter pair of wins have been hard-fought with the Reds falling behind in both games.

"We had a hard game on Sunday, and again on Tuesday," said Edwin, referring to the two matches in 48 hours against Villa (3-2) and then Porto (2-2).

"We need to make sure we focus again for Saturday against Sunderland."