Van der Sar confident United will bounce back
Floored by Yaya Toure’s winner for Manchester City in the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley on Saturday and with their treble bid in tatters, United have had minimal time to recover.
Their mood will have improved with the knowledge that striker Wayne Rooney will be available at St James’ Park, having served his two-match ban, and thanks to that dramatic finale at Arsenal on Sunday, where Liverpool scored a 102nd-minute penalty to deny the Gunners three points. That 1-1 draw leaves United nursing a six-point lead at the top of the table with only six games remaining.
However, Van der Sar knows that as they head up to the north-east United need to adopt a positive frame of mind, and he is confident they will.
“It won’t be difficult to pick ourselves up,” he said. “We know how important the league is. We are in first position, so we just have to make the best of it.
“We have played a big number of games in the last three or four weeks and against Newcastle we must do better.”
After a draining and disappointing day, United could not have hoped for a better outcome to yesterday’s game at the Emirates.
They now know 13 points from their last six games will be enough to claim the title for a record 19th time.
It could be less than that too, as United still have their two closest rivals to play at the start of next month, Chelsea heading to Old Trafford on May 8, seven days after the Red Devils have visited the Emirates.
Van der Sar insists the overall mood is still good at United as the season enters its crucial final weeks.
“You get confidence when you get on a roll,” said the Dutchman.
“When you are not struggling and you get your players back it is bound to make everyone feel better about themselves. There are goals in the team too and defensively we are sound.
“No one likes to lose at any time but in general, there is a good feeling about how things are going.”
Rooney’s return has also registered with Alan Pardew, the Newcastle manager aware that the striker will be raring to go after missing last week’s Premier League win against Fulham and Saturday’s painful semi-final defeat to Manchester City at Wembley.
He said: “I have been a manager more or less all of Rooney’s career and I think he is playing as well as he has ever played.
“That last game against Chelsea (in the Champions League) was as good a game as I have ever seen him play, so he is in top form and we are going to have to cope with that.
“Top players, their quality is ingrained. They have down-time like anybody in any trade, but they come out of it and quality will shine through. Rooney is back to his best.”
Newcastle midfielder Cheick Tiote returns from his own ban and will be joined in the squad by midfielder Stephen Ireland for the first time since his January loan move from Villa.
The 24-year-old arrived with a knee injury, then picked up a thigh problem in training and spent the bulk of last week at the bedside of partner Jessica Lawlor after she suffered multiple injuries in a car accident.
The Republic of Ireland exile has a chance of being involved, but goalkeeper Steve Harper is a doubt after having an injection for a knee injury, while striker Shola Ameobi is touch and go with a similar problem.
Pardew also believes that United’s defeat at the hands of their cross-town rivals on Saturday has actually made his side’s task that bit more difficult.
He added: “They don’t lose two games back to back often, so that makes it a little bit harder, but the motivation of Manchester United is always the same.
“They are expected to win and they will be coming to St James’ to win, but they are going to find it a tough game”
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