Rio Eyes Winning Run-in

Rio Ferdinand wants United to win every remaining game this season after the champions recorded an emphatic 4-0 victory over struggling Aston Villa on Sunday.

The Reds defender is also adamant his team-mates will not be affected by outside pressure after Manchester City closed the gap at the top of the Barclays Premier League to just five points.

“We don’t really take that into consideration, if I’m honest,” Rio declared. “We put pressure on ourselves to win games. The pressure comes from within and from the fans. They demand that and so does the boss. We have to go out there and produce our own result first - outside pressure doesn’t come into it.

“Our goal is the same as before when the gap was at eight points - we want to win every game until the end of the season. That has not changed and it won’t change until the last day of the season. We want to win every game.”

Two goals for Wayne Rooney and one each for Danny Welbeck and Nani helped seal a commanding win at Old Trafford, providing the perfect tonic for United following the disappointment of last Wednesday’s shock defeat to Wigan Athletic.

“I think Wednesday was a blip,” Ferdinand admitted. “Fair play to Wigan because they played well and we didn’t really turn up. We had to put in a good performance at home, the onus was us to win the game and we went out there and did it.

“It’s always nice to get an early goal because it settles you down and you become more fluid. We played some really good stuff and some good one-touch attacking football. When we’re in full flow like
that, it’s great to be behind watching it all unfold.

“We know we need to score goals and if we’re on top, we have to punish teams. We probably haven’t done it as much this season, but today we got a good amount.”

Victory over the Villains means United can win the title with victory in the Manchester derby at the Etihad Stadium. A mouth-watering prospect for United fans around the world, yet Ferdinand says he is unmoved by the possibility.

“I’ll be honest, I couldn’t care less where we win it as long as we get the trophy. Our fans would love it but as long as you can get your hands on the trophy, you’ll take it in your back garden.”

Rio Ferdinand was speaking to Sky Sports News.