Ferguson issues Villa warning to title rivals

Manchester United's Phillip Neville (L) battles with Aston Villa's Luke Moore during their premiership football match at Villa Park in Birmingham. United managed a hard-fought 1-0 win

Sir Alex Ferguson did his best to heap the pressure on title rivals Chelsea and Arsenal by warning they had still to travel to Aston Villa after seeing Manchester United go third in the Premier League with a hard-fought 1-0 away win against the Midlands club.

Ryan Giggs's 41st minute goal was all that separated the teams come the final whistle in Tuesday's late kick-off game.

Afterwards Ferguson told Sky Sports: "That was our hardest away game of the season. It was end-to-end stuff. They (Villa) could have got something out of it. But we showed a lot of guts ... We weren't going to lose that game."

He added: "We've been here, and it's a difficult place to come. Arsenal and Chelsea have still to come here."

But for all Ferguson's words, his side were left nine points behind leaders Chelsea and one shy of champions Arsenal, who are away to Newcastle on Wednesday and will be hoping victory reduces their deficit to five points.

And Ferguson, whose team are now third on goal difference from Everton, admitted: "We're climbing up the table but it's getting to Chelsea, that's the problem. But if we keep our consistency we'll get very, very close."

Victory meant United had dropped just two points from their last eight games. By contrast this latest defeat was Villa's fourth on the trot in a run where they'd taken just one point from six matches.

Villa manager David O'Leary said he could not expect better from his largely youthful side and re-iterated his call for chairman Doug Ellis to finance his attempt to bring in four players during the January transfer window.

"I can't ask for any more than what the players are giving me," the ex-Leeds boss said.

"I've given the board a list of four players who if they come here will improve us. At the moment I've got 14 players and kids. I'd like to make that 18 plus kids," former Arsenal and Republic of Ireland centre-half O'Leary added.

"Fifteen players have gone and three have come in. We've only been able to raise two million pounds from those 15. I think we won something like eight million pounds after doing so well last season.

"But it's the board's decision. I've just signed a new contract here and I'll work with what I'm given."

Wales wing Giggs, 31, who had already gone close, eventually broke the deadlock in the 41st minute by finishing a move he'd started.

He flicked the ball to John O'Shea on the right, then ran on to the return pass before striking a powerful low shot past Villa keeper Thomas Sorensen.

Villa pressed at the start of the second period and United struggled to get out of their half although the hosts, for all their effort, did not create a clearcut chance.

In stoppage time United striker Alan Smith missed a great chance to make the game safe when, from barely two yards out, he turned substitute Roy Keane's cross on to the bar.