YOU'RE NOT THAT GOOD

"I think Arsenal in that 1998-99 season were at a fantastic level of play but I don't think they have improved since then, They were a fantastic side four years ago and we found it very difficult against them. It took something special in the end to beat them in the FA Cup semi-final.

For me, that Arsenal team was a better team than the one they've got now.

It's our fault!

"All that has changed in the meantime is that we've lost silly games and other sides have definitely gained encouragement from that. I don't think that Arsenal, Liverpool or Leeds are any better than they were three or four years ago. It is just that we have dipped slightly in certain areas."

Don't get too cocky

"They're in a rich vein of form so they're supremely confident but, in this league, games come out of the blue and hit you. You'll be somewhere like Charlton or Fulham, you'll get a player sent off, the crowd will get up and suddenly from being 2-0 up, you're 3-2 down.

"Arsenal's confidence is there for everybody to see and hear but we know it's a long season and we've been there before. The reality is that you never go a full season without losing a game and there is absolutely no doubt in my mind Arsenal will drop more points this season.

More talk about appetites

"Don't forget we've got the same belief as they have. We still feel like we're going to win every match. You feel like that when you're at the top. There have been many times over the last eight years of playing for United that I have heard 'crisis', 'decline', 'end of an era',"

"They're just people's opinions and there might come a day when they are proved to be right. But we will be doing our damn hardest to make sure they are wrong again this time. We didn't win anything last year and that brings different pressures because we are a club that is used to winning things.