DEFENSIVE OUTLOOK

Patrice Evra can't afford to doze off in the battle for the left back role at United, but he's sleeping well at night.

"I have been pleased with my performances this season. This is my first full season and I understand things more - playing for United, English football, what the boss wants.

"Six months ago, it was not very good for me, but it was good for my experience, for my head, because every day, in every game and at every training session, I was learning. In France, the game is relaxed; you have time on the ball.

"But in England, you always have forwards or midfielders on you.

"It is good for me here because I work harder. I am never sure that I will play every game. It is not just football either, but in life. I eat well and I sleep well. It is more important now that I make these sacrifices in my life because United is a big, big club.

From the Independent:

At least the United camp have a full week to recover before heading to Reading. Ferguson will hope the brief lull in fixtures offers Nemanja Vidic, Alan Smith and Gabriel Heinze the opportunity to work on their match fitness.

Vidic, in particular, will fancy his chances of a recall given the recent problems which have surfaced in Rio Ferdinand's previously watertight partnership with Wes Brown. The Serbian's willingness to get stuck into the less glamorous parts of defending should help stabilise United's rearguard and Ferguson is looking to have both Vidic and Heinze back in his side.

"Some defenders would prefer to be known as football players but the guys who have a vocation for it, like Vidic and Heinze, take great pride in their work. They revel in it," Ferguson said. "They love defending. They see it as an honourable profession."