Title race wide open, says Fergie

Alex Ferguson takes his Manchester United side to Fulham tonight urging them to turn the Premiership title race into one of the most exciting ever.

Yesterday’s Highbury stalemate will allow United to cut the gap on leaders Chelsea to seven points and move to within two of fellow title challengers Arsenal if they can extend their four-match winning sequence by collecting maximum points at Craven Cottage.

With Everton maintaining their unexpected push towards the top of the table and fifth-placed Middlesbrough not that far off the pace, the battle for league supremacy could be one of the most widely contested since the Premiership was formed in 1992.

And for Ferguson, that would be a welcome development after years of duelling between his own club and Arsenal.

“It would probably be better for the league if three or four teams were involved at the end,” he said.

“We had a situation like that in February a couple of years back, although in the end it frittered away to ourselves and Arsenal.

“It could very well happen again, although at the moment it looks as though three teams will contest it.”

A draw between Arsenal and Chelsea was probably the best result Ferguson could have hoped for yesterday, as it halted the progress of Jose Mourinho’s men without offering the misfiring Gunners a significant confidence boost.

But the wily boss knows the window of opportunity presented to his side will remain firmly shut unless they can get a better result than the 1-1 draw they managed on their last two capital encounters with the Cottagers.

“There is an opportunity to close the gap and we have to take it,” said Ferguson.

“Our form has been good over the last few weeks and we have been buoyed by that but equally, Fulham’s confidence will have been lifted by their win over Norwich last week.”

That victory over the Canaries was given to them by former United front-man Andy Cole, who netted 121 goals in 268 appearances for the Red Devils and played a significant role in their 1999 Treble campaign until he left for Blackburn three years ago.

Contrary to popular belief, there was no fall-out between Cole and Ferguson, merely an acknowledgement from the manager that he couldn’t give the striker the regular starting berth he had become accustomed to.

Nothing would give the United manager more pleasure than to see Cole enjoy a glorious swansong to a fine career, although he does not extend that wish to tonight’s encounter.

“I only spoke to Andy a couple of weeks ago,” revealed the United chief. “He is enjoying it down there, even if his family have remained in the north.

“He got his move from Blackburn at just the right time and Chris Coleman even made him captain last week, which is great for him.

“I still think he is one of the best strikers in the business and we will have to be aware of him, especially in the area because there are few as quick as he is inside the box.”

Ferguson has his own striking problems at the moment, with former Fulham favourite Louis Saha out for at least three weeks with a knee problem, while Ruud van Nistelrooy’s place in tonight’s game is in doubt due to a troublesome calf injury.

It means either Wayne Rooney or Alan Smith will operate as a lone front man, with the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Ryan Giggs and Darren Fletcher vying for the three attacking midfield slots just behind.