Nemanja Vidic has told his Manchester United team-mates to forget about their Premier League title rivals and concentrate solely on themselves.
Although Arsenal trimmed United's lead at the top to a single point with their victory over Stoke on Wednesday, the Gunners' presence in Sunday's Carling Cup final means United can immediately re-establish a four-point cushion if they overcome Wigan at the DW Stadium on Saturday.
"We are just thinking about ourselves," said Vidic.
"We don't need to bother about other teams because we are in a good position. It all depends on us. It is a season-defining period for everyone."
United have never failed to beat Wigan and now is not a great time to start given Roberto Martinez's men have been stuck in the relegation zone for the past couple of months and those tricky trips to Stamford Bridge and Anfield loom immediately afterwards.
Ryan Giggs is the only absentee from Wednesday that Sir Alex Ferguson is reasonably confident of having available as United look to consolidate a place many are surprised they have.
It is a subject that irritates Ferguson judging by his programme notes ahead of last week's encounter with Crawley.
However, his side's performance against the non-leaguers, followed by a drab display in Marseille this week, when even Ferguson admitted "nothing happened" have again raised question marks about United's title credentials ahead of that run of three away games.
Vidic does not believe they have any foundation and he added: "I am not surprised by where we are. The table shows where we should be.
"In some games we scored a goal in the last minute but there were others, at Everton and Fulham for instance, when we conceded them. We are where we are. We have the points we should have overall."
Source: PA
