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With the club's midweek win over Wigan Athletic taking them into second place and within two points of league leaders Liverpool, Manchester United know that should they win their remaining game in hand then they will leapfrog their north west rivals and head the table for the first time this season.
Scottish midfielder Darren Fletcher, 24, has been directly responsible for chalking some of those points up on the board during the early stages of the season, with vital goals tallied against Newcastle United, Portsmouth, and Everton.
It has been argued that title rivals Liverpool are starting to feel the pressure, with Rafael Benitez in particular exchanging words and mind games via press conferences with Sir Alex Ferguson.
Chelsea too have begun to falter, and United will be confidence following their cruising 3-0 victory over the Blues last weekend.
Fletcher though insists that the title race will still be contested by three parties, and told the club's official website:
"I think there'll be three of us challenging towards the end of the season and I expect it to go down to the wire.
"You've got to give Liverpool respect. They might not have been in this position for a while, but they've shown great strengths since they've been in front.
"It's been a very unpredictable league this season and a very competitive one, more so than in recent seasons. Any team can get a result against anyone and you can't discount any side after a bad result."
He continued: "All we can do is concentrate on ourselves - we've experienced it before and we're ready for it."
"We've got a lot of big games at home and the pressure is on us to win them.
"It's going to be a long second half of the season with a lot of games in different competitions, but that's why we've got a top quality squad to battle on all fronts.
"We're looking forward to the challenges ahead," he concluded.
Manchester United face a trip to Bolton Wanderers on Saturday, prior to playing the second leg of their Carling Cup match against Derby County on Tuesday.
