O’Shea: we are not giving up on league yet
Manchester United head to Highbury on Sunday looking to claw back a quarter of the 12-point lead the Gunners currently hold over the defending champions.
Even if United emerge victorious from their trip to north London for the first time since 1999, with just eight games of the league campaign remaining, the odds will still be stacked heavily in Arsenal’s favour.
But O’Shea, who won his first title medal with the Old Trafford club 12 months ago, will not give in. The young Irish defender was heartened by an improved defensive display against Tottenham last weekend and thinks United are now capable of embarking on a sustained winning run that could put Arsenal under the pressure that saw them crack last term.
“We are not giving up in the league,” he said.
“We know it’s going to take a hell of a run of results for us to turn it around but we’ve still got to give it a go.”
O’Shea added: “Confidence has been low recently but the win against Tottenham has given us a boost. Before the Spurs match, the last time we kept a clean sheet was against Northampton in January. Hopefully there will be a lot more between now and the end of the season.”
United boss Alex Ferguson has received an early pre-match selection lift after £12.8m striker Louis Saha confirmed his recovery from a troublesome Achilles injury.
Long-serving defender Gary Neville is also available again after a four-match ban, offering Ferguson another defensive option ahead of a game which, in truth, will serve as little more to United that the chance to get one over of their old rivals ahead of what for them is a far more important FA Cup semi-final at Villa Park next week.
Over recent weeks, Ferguson has had to juggle with a squad that has been missing Rio Ferdinand and Neville through suspension, plus Roy Keane, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Mikael Silvestre, Saha, Kleberson and Eric Djemba-Djemba due to injuries.
For O’Shea, the subsequent lack of consistency in selection is one of the major reasons why United’s recent form has been so poor.
However, he admits they should have been able to cope.
“We’ve had to make changes due to injury and suspension but we have a talented squad and at a club like Manchester United you have to cope,” he said.
“Unfortunately, we haven’t managed to do it as well as we have done in the past. Now we just have to get on with it.”
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