Evra: Our Spirit Can Be Telling

United possess a culture of selflessness and togetherness which can be the difference in the bid to retain the Barclays Premier League title.

That's the view of Patrice Evra, who started at left-back but later formed a makeshift centre-back pairing with Michael Carrick in the Reds' 5-0 win over Wigan Athletic. The result moved the champions level on points with league leaders Manchester City.

"This is the United spirit: you can play everywhere," Evra told MUTV. "If you want to win, you have to accept it. You can see Antonio Valencia playing right-back as well. Only because United play like a team.

"The team is the star, not only one player, that's why you can put me and Michael Carrick at centre-back; we're going to win because it's the team effort and team spirit. That's why I'm confident.

"I've said that from the beginning - in six years playing here - the Man United spirit... no one team has got that spirit. This is United. This is why I'm so proud to play here."

The Boxing Day win marked an eighth league victory in nine games for the Reds, and a fourth successive win since the Champions League defeat at Basel which Evra views as a potential watershed moment in United's season.

"I think it was a big disappointment when we went out early in the Champions League," the Frenchman said, "but I think it was a wake-up call, because maybe everyone looked at themselves in the mirror and said 'we can do much better'.

"What the fans expect of every player, we are doing now. That's why I'm very pleased. Nothing is easy; it's because we're working hard. If we stopped working hard and think only with the United name, everything is going to be wrong.

"That's why we have to keep going with this momentum and trust each other because it's a big squad and everyone wants to show they deserve to play. If we win and score goals and keep many clean sheets, like we did tonight, we're going to be at the top of the league at the end of the season."