Ryan Giggs is concerned that the draining effects of jet-lag could have a negative influence on Manchester United's Premier League title chances. United showed no ill-effects in dismantling Gamba Osaka 5-3 in Tokyo to book a place in the Club World Cup final, but the Welsh midfielder admitted that he and some of his team-mates are struggling with sleep deprivation.

United take on Liga de Quito, of Ecuador, in the final on Sunday before returning to England and Giggs is worried that readjusting after a 12 hour flight may cause problems when they face Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium on Boxing Day.

"I hope it won't have a knock-on effect to our title defence," Giggs said. "We don't know how it will affect us next Friday.

"It has been quite difficult over here. I have not slept much, four or five hours sleep a night really. You just have to prepare the best we you can. It is a bit of a problem.

"We have a squad big enough to handle the games over the Christmas period and we just hope come that game against Stoke we have got over the jet-lag."

However, Giggs is confident that renewed speculation linking Cristiano Ronaldo with Real Madrid will die down. "All this is nothing new," he said. "It has been going on for over a year now. Players get on with it. You want your top players at the club. I am sure that will continue to be the case. We feel he is at the best place."