Fergie eyes title charge

Ferguson: Delighted

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Sir Alex Ferguson believes Manchester United have given themselves an excellent chance of winning the Premier League title following the victory over Stoke.

It looked as though Stoke would hold on for a goalless draw at the Britannia Stadium on Boxing Day until Carlos Tevez converted Dimitar Berbatov's cross with seven minutes to play.

Liverpool and Chelsea remain in front of United in the title race but Ferguson expects his side to improve in the second half of the season.

"If we could get to New Year's Day a couple of points adrift of the leaders we would be very happy," Ferguson told Sky Sports.

"We expect to kick on. We'll give ourselves a great chance if we get into that position."

Worried

Ferguson accepts that it was a tricky fixture just days after United's return from winning the Club World Cup in Japan.

He added: "Coming back from Japan we were worried about how it would affect the team but you could see their energy was good. There was no problem with that and they handled it very well.

"It was a difficult game. Sometimes you have to be patient. We took the risk of playing Ryan Giggs at left-back but it was worth it to get three points."

Ferdinand concern

Rio Ferdinand had to sit out after suffering a recurrence of a long-term back injury before kick-off.

He will also miss United's next clash on Monday but Ferguson does not expect him to be sidelined for too long.

"We have to get to the root of this because he has had this back problem too many times," Ferguson admitted.

"He'll be out against Middlesbrough on Monday. I think in maybe 10 days he should be OK."