Smith marvels at resurgent United’s quality

MANCHESTER UNITED striker Alan Smith has revealed it was only when he finally got to Old Trafford he realised just how good his new team-mates really were.

Smith attracted the anger of Leeds fans and the suspicion of their Red Devils counterparts when he declared the hazardous cross-Pennine move was the only one he was prepared to make last summer once his home-town club had been relegated.

With big-money duo Ruud van Nistelrooy and Louis Saha already at the club and Wayne Rooney destined to join not long after, it appeared the £7m striker would be little more than back-up as United looked to wrestle the Premiership title back from Arsenal.

Instead, Smith has been the only member of Alex Ferguson’s squad to play in every league match so far this season and will be the only recognised forward available for tomorrow’s Old Trafford encounter with in-form Tottenham as van Nistelrooy and Saha remain sidelined through injury and Rooney serves the second game of his three-match ban.

The Leeds-born player grabbed a man of the match award for his tenacious performance in United’s 2-0 win at Middlesbrough which gave Ferguson’s side their eighth win in nine league matches. But even Smith admitted the major influence on their recent resurgence has been Ryan Giggs, who scored for the third successive game last night, to increase the pressure on United chief executive David Gill to offer him the two-year contract extension he is currently demanding.

“It is unbelievable to play with someone like Ryan Giggs,” said Smith.

“When you watch him from a distance, you don’t realise how good he actually is. It is only when you get here and train with him that you really find out. The whole club is so much different than anything I have been used to before. You go into every game expecting to win and I am enjoying every minute of it.”

The England international cannot get enough of the action and if he is called upon to tackle non-league Exeter in the FA Cup next Saturday or Chelsea in the Carling Cup semi-final at Stamford Bridge four days later, he will embrace the challenge fully.

Apart from the draw at Fulham five matches ago, the one disappointing aspect of United’s superb recent run is their failure to close Chelsea’s nine-point lead, or even make significant inroads into Arsenal’s four-point advantage. And as long as the London duo keep winning United’s margin for error is virtually non-existent given the ground still to be made up.

With trips to Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester City looming over the next seven weeks, Smith will soon discover whether he has any chance of collecting a prized championship winners’ medal at the end of his first season at Old Trafford.

But on the positive side, the striker believes there is still room for improvement from a team that has collected 26 points from a possible 30 since their second defeat of the campaign at Portsmouth on October 30.

“We are in excellent form but I believe we can push on even further from here,” he said.

Cristiano Ronaldo is Ferguson’s only major doubt for the Tottenham clash after limping out of Saturday’s encounter in the second-half after taking a kick on the calf.

Gary Neville could be available after a bout of flu, which has also claimed Kieran Richardson and Liam Miller, although Ferguson is confident the latter duo will be fit if required.