Ferguson fires warning after win

Ferguson expects United's experience to count in 2010

Sir Alex Ferguson has warned his side's title rivals that Manchester United will only improve in 2010 as they look to retain their Premier League trophy.

United end the year two points off league leaders Chelsea and two ahead of Arsenal, who have a game in hand, after Wednesday's 5-0 demolition of Wigan.

And Ferguson warned: "The second half of the season is when experience counts and we have that and we have the squad.

"The key is getting the defence fit and then we'll be a much better team."

The return to fitness of Nemanja Vidic, in particular, has allowed Ferguson to select something like a settled back four in their last two matches and United have responded with comfortable wins over Hull and Wigan.

It has left them well placed to push on in the new year - though Chelsea remain top of the table, while Arsenal's recent form has underlined their title credentials as well.

But Ferguson insists the return to full fitness of a number of defenders such as Rio Ferdinand, Johnny Evans and John O'Shea will provide his side with the perfect fillip during the title run-in.

"There is no doubt that having a settled defence makes all the difference to us," he said.

"The stability given to us by our back four against Wigan and last time out against Hull has been fantastic. We could have won by more against Wigan because we were able to play with confidence and aggression from that base.

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"We hit the woodwork a couple of times and had another cleared off the line, but we're happy enough with 5-0."

Wigan manager Roberto Martinez, meanwhile, was left deflated by his side's capitulation at Old Trafford.

The defeat leaves his side just a point off the relegation zone at the turn of the year, and the Spaniard admits he has work to do if Wigan are to pull away from the bottom three.

"That defeat can be summed up quite easily - we just did not give United a game at all," he said.

"It was extremely, extremely disappointing. We need to be solid, to earn the right to be on the ball and express ourselves, but tonight we did everything the other way round.

"We looked like individuals rather than a team and it is unacceptable. Credit to United, they were clinical, but everything they created was easy because we were not a team.

"We'll start again on Monday and in situations like this the players have to show how important they want to be for the football club. Simply put, we cannot continue like this."

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