Neville issues title warning to Chelsea

Gary Neville has warned Chelsea that Manchester United are more confident than they were 12 months ago as the Premiership title race gathers pace.

United extended their lead over the reigning champions to seven points despite their 2-2 draw at Newcastle United on Monday as their three-game winning run over the holiday period came to an end.

But 31-year-old captain Neville believes they are better placed to mount a serious challenge than they were last season.

He said: "We know we are a good team and we are a lot more confident going into this year than we were the last one. We are not chasing. We are confident. We feel as though we are playing well.

"We are disheartened a little bit because we have not won the game. But in years gone by, when standards were not quite so great, we would have thought of it as a decent result. Now we are expected to win every game and we are disappointed not to manage that."

That United did not leave Tyneside nine points better off than their only serious rivals is testament to a remarkably brave performance by Glenn Roeder's men against the odds.

Already troubled by injuries, the Magpies were forced to make a late change when the former Old Trafford favourite Nicky Butt, who would have played as an emergency central defender, withdrew with an ankle injury to hand 19-year-old David Edgar his home debut.

The teenager was to enjoy a dream finish to his big day, but not before a pulsating encounter had unfolded. James Milner gave Newcastle a 33rd-minute lead with a long-range strike, but United roared into the lead as Paul Scholes once again excelled at St James' Park. His double in six minutes either side of half-time looked to have won the day until Edgar, who only made his senior bow at Bolton on Boxing Day, rifled home from 30 yards with the help of a deflection off Scholes.

Neville said: "We responded when we went 1-0 down, then when we got 2-1 in front you thought we were going to go on and win the game. Nine times out of 10, we won't concede goals like we did today, two 25- or 30-yard strikes. Hopefully that won't happen again.

"Over a 38-game championship, there are going to be occasions like this when you don't take chances and you concede a couple at a difficult place like Newcastle. There will be swings over the remainder of the season. We have to make the swings go our way.

"It is disappointing because we want to win every match. But when we look back in a few weeks' time, we might think it is just a case of us coming to the end of a difficult period. It was always going to be the hardest game of the four. We blame ourselves for not winning. Newcastle is always a difficult place to come because the crowd are so up for it. We gave them encouragement by letting them get the first goal, but we should have killed the game off when we scored at the start of the second half.

"There was a period when we could have killed the game because we had so many chances, but we did not do it. They got a fortunate goal to equalise, but that is what happens in football. If you are only one goal ahead, you can struggle.

"We got a point, which is not disastrous. Obviously, we have to see what Chelsea do before we find out where we are after this period, but the minimum we will be clear is four points and that is better than we were at the start of this period."

There was more disappointment for United when the striker Louis Saha limped off with a groin injury which the manager Sir Alex Ferguson later admitted could sideline him for "a couple of weeks".