Old Trafford Fortress Is Crucial

While United’s Barclays Premier League travels have yielded mixed results this term, the Reds’ form at Old Trafford has been nigh on faultless.

Sir Alex Ferguson’s men have taken 28 from 30 available points on home turf in the league this season – a 2-2 draw with West Brom the offending game – scoring 27 goals in ten games and conceding just six.

United will doubtless have to work hard to maintain that record at the first hurdle in 2011 tonight when Stoke City visit Old Trafford. That said, the Reds have smashed the Potters for four and five goals without reply in their last two visits to M16.

Skipper Nemanja Vidic freely admits United have not been consistent enough this season, despite being top of the league with games in hand over the other top five clubs. “It’s hard to explain,” he acknowledges. “In some away games we haven’t performed well but got the result, but then in others we've played well and haven't got the result. It's very inconsistent from us.

"But normally we get stronger at this time of the season. That's why we are looking forward to playing Stoke. We have a good record at Old Trafford; the only disappointing result was the draw with West Brom, we have won all our other home games.

"It is our fortress, so hopefully we can win tonight and keep going. Our performances at home have been really good, and another win will bring more confidence."

Vidic feels home advantage could play a key role this evening. “It's totally different when we play at Old Trafford to when we play them at the Britannia. Our pitch is very big and we won't have that many long balls to deal with like we would at Stoke."

But that’s not to underestimate the physical threat Stoke’s front men pose to Vidic and United’s rearguard – however that merely ensures a typical Vidic bring-it-on reaction. "In English football you have to deal with big, tall strikers and you have to deal with small, sharp, quick ones.

"That's why it is the most competitive league in the world. But I just love to defend. Right from when I was young I always liked to defend, to work to stop the other team scoring a goal no matter how they play. I've played against the big ones, I've played against the ones with the technique...in all the years I've been here I learned how to stop them all, big and small."