'I think they have taken 28 points out of the last 30. That's not bad championship form,' said McClaren after Saturday's game.
'You know they are good enough to continue that. Sure, they are relying on other people dropping points but if they play like that week in and week out then they will put pressure on Chelsea and Arsenal. It's a three-horse race at the present moment. Any one of them can win it.'
McClaren has taken Saturday's game as a yardstick: by which to measure his own team's progress:
'United showed us how far we have got to go. When you play United in that form you know that it is always going to be difficult. In the first half we met a United side in top form. We needed to be at our best and maybe getting to half-time just one goal down wasn't too bad. We changed a few things around at half-time and that gave us the platform which we didn't have in the first half. We knew we needed to get back into the game and we did that. Obviously the next goal was always going to be important and they got it at a time when we were playing very well. But that's what you have to deal with and we are disappointed because we wanted to get something from the game.'