Sir Alex Ferguson is refusing to take anything for granted as Manchester United move closer to a second successive title. They dashed Arsenal's hopes with a 2-1 victory at Old Trafford yesterday and now only Chelsea can prevent them retaining their crown.

"I am not counting my chickens," Ferguson said. "I am not getting carried away as I know what football can do to you. My team is keen to do well and the players are showing great consistency. We never give up, which, of course, is a priceless quality to have. That's the kind of spirit we will need in our remaining games. Hopefully that will continue and we will win the league."

United play Blackburn at Ewood Park on Saturday, but Owen Hargreaves is feeling well prepared for the challenge. "We go to Blackburn in good spirits," he said. "We do not have a midweek game, so we can have a bit of a rest."

Michael Carrick believes United are getting their reward for not panicking when Arsenal were in pole position. "When we were behind them in the league we were not looking too far ahead," he said. "We were just concentrating on getting a good run of games ourselves.

"Then we got a string of victories and Arsenal slipped up a little. You have to grab that opportunity with both hands. We haven't looked back since then and it was an important game in terms of eliminating Arsenal from the race. We are in a good position now."

Ferguson could have Nemanja Vidic back for the Blackburn match. The Serbia defender has missed the last three games after suffering a knee injury against Roma in the Champions League.

Meanwhile Lou Macari believes Ferguson remains "years away" from retiring. "Since he has been at Old Trafford his routine has been to work every morning from 7.30 until four in the afternoon," the former United midfielder said. "He is still doing that and I think that's the sign of somebody who wants to stay in the job. I just fear for the next manager who takes over at Old Trafford because he's on a loser."