Manchester United midfielder Darren Fletcher urges his team to end away draws
Manchester United midfielder has urged his teammates to stop the run of draws in away matches and win against Aston Villa. Instead of their unbeaten run United have drawn half of their games this season. The draw against Manchester City was their 6th
draw in 12 Premier League games. Five of which have come away from home. Their unbeaten run stretches back to 25 games. Red Devils were last overpowered by Chelsea in last year’s reverse fixture which was dubbed as the title decider.
Wednesday’s draw was not considered too bad because of their dominance for the most part of the match. But they could rue the results against Everton and Fulham. United conceded injury time goals in those matches. Incredible after winning 3-1 in the 2nd
half against Everton, they let their rivals score twice in injury time which is unheard of against Sir Alex Ferguson’s men. In the match Fulham similar unfortunate scenes were witnessed when leading 1-0 United missed a penalty and then Fulham scored in the
last minutes of the match to draw 2-2.
The Scottish midfielder accepts that his team needs to get better and challenge the title favourites Chelsea. And they should start with a win against Aston Villa on Saturday. Anything less than three points will be a disaster.
Scotland skipper said: “People are talking about us not losing but we have drawn too many, especially away from home. We have to start winning our away games if we want to push up this league. You can't afford to draw too many games, otherwise you will get
left behind.”
He added: “Overall, you would be better winning two games out of three and losing the other one rather than winning one and drawing two. That is why we were disappointed on Wednesday. We could have got the win and felt we produced a performance good enough
to get us one.”
Fletcher knows there is lot of history behind this fixture and he is right to pin point this fixture as a must win game. Fergie’s men haven’t lost at Villa Park since the famous defeat on the 1995-96 campaign. Since then United have won 9 out of 14 matches
at Midlands.
The Scott has fond memories of this ground and considers it one of the best grounds in the country. Players get a great feeling of a big occasion while playing at Villa Park.
But Villa at home won’t be easy. League leader and current champions Chelsea only managed to get a point at this ground this season. Under Gerard Houllier’s management they will be looking for a win. In 2000 when the Frenchman was at Liverpool, he led them
to their 1st victory in ten years.
There is some good news on the injury front for United. French left back Patrice Evra joined a training session and is tipped to be in the starting eleven. Fletcher feels he is feeling great after virus scare ran through the Red Devil squad. He has been
an integral part of Ferguson’s squad for last couple of seasons now. Gone are the days when people thought of him as a bit part player.
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