Rio: Unhappy Xmas

Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand is remaining upbeat about the Reds' title hopes - despite losing to his brother over Christmas.

Ferdinand says he had an "awful Christmas period" after United lost 2-1 to West Ham, with his brother Anton scoring against his team. But, the West Ham loss aside, second-placed United won all three of their other festive games to give themselves a fighting chance of retaining their Premier League crown.

Speaking of the situation, Ferdinand said: "We are still there or thereabouts in the league and if we had been offered this position at the start of the season, we would have taken it.

"But nine points from four games over Christmas is not satisfactory for me at all. I have had an awful Christmas period, losing to West Ham and my brother scoring as well. But sometimes, you have to take these things on the chin and make sure they don't happen again."

Ferdinand believes United's defensive record can be the platform to win the league.

He added: "We have a good record defensively. That is the platform we can build on to be a championship-winning team. It happened last year and it would be great if it happened again."