Premiership: Fergie talk is tongue in cheek - Thompson

Alex Ferguson's claims that Manchester United can no longer win the championship were dismissed by Liverpool's Phil Thompson.

Liverpool's 1-0 win at Derby has moved them eight points clear of United with a game in hand.

But Liverpool's stand-in boss insists United are still a major threat in the title race.

Thompson said: "I don't believe anything I hear like that. He must have had a very large tongue in his cheek.

"Manchester United could go to the end of the season without losing another match. When I was playing, that Liverpool team believed it could put together unbeaten runs of 20 matches, and United's players will still have that belief because they are still that good."

Derby battled away after Michael Owen's early goal, and dominated much of the second period before Fabrizio Ravanelli missed his second penalty in successive matches in the dying seconds after a fine save from Jerzy Dudek.

Thompson said: "Derby didn't surprise us. We've had them watched and all our reports say that there is a new-found passion and belief about them.

"When Ravanelli took that penalty he may well have been thinking about the one he missed against Newcastle and that could have affected him.

"Jerzy probably had the upperhand mentally at that point. He made some fine save for us and has been outstanding since he joined the club."