Yorke: Let's Win It In Style

Dwight Yorke wants Manchester United to get over the disappointment of exiting the UEFA Champions League by reclaiming the Barclays Premier League title via a record margin.

The Reds face Reading on Saturday on the back of a disappointing week having been knocked out of Europe in controversial circumstances before dropping a two goal lead to draw with Chelsea in the FA Cup sixth round, prompting a yet-to-be-scheduled replay at Stamford Bridge.

But Yorke - who was part of the United team which won the title by 18 points during the 1999/2000 season, setting records for goals scored and games won in the process – believes Sir Alex Ferguson’s men must “dust themselves down” and regain focus ahead of this weekend’s clash with the Royals.

“The manager knows his position because the players will be deflated and aware that they got knocked out of the European Cup, but that has gone now,” Dwight told ManUtd.com. “Yes, you can lick your wounds for a few days but then you dust yourself off and the manager will emphasise that.

“He will have given the players reassurances and told them to ‘focus on the job at hand’, which is retaining the Premier League title. But the key is the manner in which we reclaim it. We don’t want to bring it back to Old Trafford by just two or three points. Let’s try and break the all-time record.

“In 2000, we won it by 18 points in April and those are the kind of benchmarks that you want to reach. Sir Alex has been through it all and this is nothing for him. It is his duty as a manager to reinforce that belief.

“The way we exited the European Cup was sad - we wouldn’t have minded if we’d lost with everybody on the pitch but that has gone now and there’s no point in bringing it up again. This is what United is all about; dusting yourself down and picking yourself up again.

“We didn’t quite get a result against Chelsea on Sunday but we’re still in the FA Cup, so we’ve got to kick on and make sure we do our best when we return to league action against Reading at Old Trafford on Saturday. Let’s do the job and get the players buzzing again.”

Against Chelsea, Sir Alex swapped his forward line by fielding Wayne Rooney and Javier Hernandez after Danny Welbeck and Robin van Persie both started against Real Madrid, a plot that paid off handsomely as both hit the back of the net against Rafa Benitez’s Blues.

And according to Yorke, the ability to rotate the squad and still retain quality is an indispensible advantage in the modern game, when players cannot be expected to feature as often with the fixture list so congested at this stage of the season.

“Given the magnitude of the club, it is important that you have four strikers,” Dwight told. “You can imagine having to play last week, this week and then next week which is too much for one striker, those days have left football.

“It’s key to have people who can come in and replace the quality that was there. In the modern day game, United are always chasing at least two trophies and you need rotation because it is impossible for any player to play every single game. It’s the manager’s nightmare to decide who should play.”