SILVETRE DEFIANT

From the Independent:

The Manchester United defender Mikaël Silvestre has insisted his future remains at Old Trafford despite widespread criticism of his recent performances but he did point to a lack of "collective spirit" within the club when they play the "smaller" teams.

"I am not on the transfer list and I am not going to leave Manchester during the winter break," he said.

"I don't care what people say. I feel I am efficient. I play almost all the matches. My future is at Manchester United and that is where I am planning to stay."

Silvestre admits that overall performances this season have been no better than average, a situation which is not good enough at a club of United's size. "Bowing out of the Champions' League before the last 16 was a huge failure," he said.

"We display good performances against big sides and we lack collective spirit against smaller teams. But we have two competitions to win [the FA Cup and the League Cup] on top of doing well in the League. We can still save our season.