Reds have to stay in touch

Ryan Giggs says United's players are targeting victory at Portsmouth on Monday in order to avoid being cut adrift from the Premier League title race.

The champions dropped two points at home to Newcastle last Sunday, and are on UEFA Super Cup duty after Monday's trip to Pompey.

By the time the Reds are next in action - at Liverpool on September 13 - the likes of Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool could be up to eight points clear - depending how United fare at Fratton Park.

"Last season was the exception," Giggs told a pre-Super Cup press conference. "Before that Chelsea and Arsenal had been getting off to good starts, and then it’s very hard to peg them back.

"We want to start winning and we don’t want a massive gap to open up between ourselves and the other teams that are going to be up there.

"It was obviously disappointing the first game with Newcastle, but that’s gone now so we’re looking towards Portsmouth and then the Super Cup in Monaco. After that it’s a two-week break, so we want to go into that break with two wins under our belt."