SAF:
The win: "We're on a great vein of form, playing with great conviction and consistency - and it's pleasing to see.
"Middlesbrough had their best moments 15 minutes after half-time when they changed their tactics, playing five across the midfield, but we weathered that storm and emerged good winners.
"It's a difficult place to come - Steve McClaren has built a great side here, they are very determined and they made us work tonight."
Title race: "I have watched one or two games over the Christmas period and no-one is playing as well as us.
"All we can do is keep doing our own jobs properly and keep playing with the same conviction and consistency and see where it takes us.
"We have to be patient but we can wait."
On Fletcher: "It is the one area where we hope he improves.
"He is a lovely footballer, has a terrific engine and is improving all the time. But like every player in his position, you that added extra, either scoring goals or creating them.
"We know he can create them, now he has to start scoring as well."
Injuries: "Hopefully Cristiano will come through because he got a bad knock at the end. We need him for Tuesday because we are down to the bare bones.
"Kieran Richardson and Liam Miller have both had a bug but should be okay for Tottenham.
"We just have to keep going the best we can."
Alan Smith:
"We're confident in ourselves.
"It puts the pressure on playing after the others (Chelsea and Arsenal) - but we've got a great team spirit.
"We let the lead slip at Fulham and we dominated that game, so Ryan's goal was vital to kill the game off today.
"We know we've got to keep winning as long as everyone else is. Whether we've got people injured or not we've got a big enough and a good enough squad to keep challenging.
"But we're not feeling the pressure - we've got experienced players in our dressing room who have done it before. We'll be there until the end."
McClaren:
"I thought United were terrific. We were missing key players but their quality was better than ours.
"Credit to Manchester United they played really well especially in the first half.
"We came out after the break and gave it a real go but the final ball was lacking and we were done in the last ten minutes.
"This period sorts the men from the boys. The top teams can grind out results and have the quality to hurt you.
"It becomes important that you don't lose points and you can see the concentration that Manchester United have.
"I can see them going on a good run.
"Keane is playing a more discerning role for United but he is doing it very well and very effectively.
"When he is playing like that, United are a very hard team to beat, as they proved against us."