Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson admitted tonight that his team have a mountain to climb if they are to get back in the title race after being held to a 1-1 draw by Fulham, leaving them nine points behind Arsenal.
Ferguson said: "It's an uphill fight, no question of that. We know that and I think everybody else knows that. But we're capable of winning matches and could go on a run of victories, which is what we need."
He was furious after the match today, claiming that United should have earned a second half penalty when Edwin van der Sar appeared to have bundled over Louis Saha: "It's time match officials earn their money. If they're not doing their job, they shouldn't be out there, frankly.
"This is the new dawn in football with professional referees but that's very questionable. There's no confidence given to managers that they're doing their job. It sometimes happens that, when you're not having a good run, you don't get the breaks. Maybe they'll come our way in a few weeks."
Ferguson was delighted with the way Saha responded to the critics from the stands and shrugged off a niggling injury: "It was a terrific goal," the manager added. "Ronaldo played him the ball and, after a good first touch, he accelerated between players and produced a great finish.
"Louis' has been terrific and the more I see of him, the more pleased I am. He's actually carrying this little calf and heel injury he had at Fulham and we're gingerly looking after him as we don't want it to get any worse."
Fulham's acting manager Steve Kean dismissed United's penalty claims: "Edwin definitely pulled his hands away. His momentum took him forward onto his front foot and Louis was waiting for the contact.
"We were four men out on what we thought their team would be," said Kean. "I didn't think Roy Carroll would play, I thought Giggs and van Nistelrooy would and that they wouldn't have Roy Keane at the back.
"It gave us a lift when we heard their team, as it did when we saw their side at Old Trafford. We said to the lads 'stick to the game plan and we've got a good chance today'. I thought we could have nicked it at the end as we had the momentum," he said.
Kean revealed Coleman was due to leave hospital next week: "I rang the hospital just after the game and spoke to the head nurse as Chris must be resting," he said. "He'll probably have followed the game on the telly.
"I spoke to him this morning and he's improving all the time. We hope he'll be out on Monday or Tuesday next week."
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