Vidic is United's Rock

Manchester United's rearguard has received relentless punditry acclaim for going 20+ hours without conceding a single league goal. That feat is made all the more remarkable when taking into account how many different defensive quartets Sir Alex Ferguson has had to field, due to a mounting injury list.

The solitary mainstay figure though who has been shoring up the back line is Serbian international Nemanja Vidic.

Vidic, 27, told MUTV today that the club have given themselves a distinct psychological advantage by going into the international week with a two point cushion, combined with their game in hand.

"It was important to get ahead of the opposition before we go away with our national teams," he said. "It's great to do that by winning at West Ham, where we’ve found it hard in recent years.

"We’ve had 13 clean sheets and I’ve played in all the games so I’m one of the players getting the credit. And I enjoyed receiving the award [January Player of the Month], for trying to do my best for the team."