Sir Alex: No Keegan rift

Sir Alex Ferguson has described his supposed fierce rivalry with Kevin Keegan as “a myth”, and says he is looking forward to seeing the Newcastle manager at St James’ Park on Saturday.

The infamous “love it” rant and the two manager's contest for the title during Keegan's last spell in charge on Tyneside have given rise to the notion of a rift. But Sir Alex insists their relationship isn’t thorny in the slightest.

“I’ve not spoken to him for ages,” said the Reds boss. “But it’s a myth [that we don’t get on]. I’ve always got on with Kevin and I’ll look forward to seeing him on Saturday.”

Sir Alex even took time to sympathise with his opposite number's predicament, and the difficulty of bringing in players in the January transfer window.

“Kevin didn’t really have a lot of time to understand the market," he said. "Everyone thinks it’s easy to get players in January, but it’s not. I’ve said it many times. He maybe didn’t have the time to get in the players he wanted, so he has to rely on the players he’s got at the moment.”

But that apparent cordiality will not prevent Sir Alex wanting to further dampen the mood after Keegan’s so far unsuccessful return to St James’ and earn three more valuable points towards United's title defence.

The United boss enjoys trips to Newcastle, not least because he is unbeaten there in almost seven years, but also because of the desire for football in the North East. “Newcastle is one of my favourite venues,” he says. “I’ve always enjoyed going there. You see the passion of their fans, and I enjoy that. I think it’s one of the main games of the season in the sense of it being a football occasion.

“We have got a decent record at St James’ Park, but that doesn’t guarantee us anything. We know we have to perform on the day. Last season we were coasting at 2-1 and they got a late goal from a deflection. You can lose a goal in any game, at any time. We have to be alert to that.”

With United five points behind league leaders Arsenal, the Reds cannot afford to slip. By the time the 17:15 GMT kick-off comes around, Sir Alex’s men could be eight points adrift, which is all part of being chasers rather than the chased.

“It’s not easy to close these gaps,” Sir Alex says, the voice of experience. “We’ve achieved it in the past, and we’ve failed to do it in the past. Hopefully experience counts. You know that points will be dropped. Arsenal and Chelsea are well aware of that. The name of the game is not to drop as many points as your opponents.

"At the moment, Arsenal have an advantage. But we also know that they have some tough games to come, so they will drop points. It’s unavoidable.” United have to be sure to be in the position to pounce if, or when, the Gunners do stumble.