United will have a fight on their hands if they are to take three points from Aston Villa this weekend, according to Villans midfielder Craig Gardner.
Martin O'Neill's side have won four of their first five home matches this season - including a 2-0 triumph over Chelsea - and United face a hard task in extending their fine record at Villa Park.
"Villa Park isn't an easy place for teams to come," Gardner told the Birmingham Mail. "I'm sure Chelsea came here thinking they were going to get all three points and we won 2-0.
"Nobody will come here and stroll to the points. We'll give teams a game and we'll put up a fight. We've got that 'never say die' attitude now under Martin O'Neill.
"Even if we go 1-0 down, we have the character to bounce back and that's a good thing to have."
Gardner has been carrying a slight groin injury of late, but the England U21 international is desperate to be fit for United's visit.
Gardner has been carrying a slight groin injury of late, but the England U21 international is desperate to be fit for United's visit.
"It's a game I really don't want to miss," he said. "Man U at home is one of the biggest, if not the biggest game of the season, so I'm determined to be fit and it would be nice to be a part of the team that plays against United.
"These are the games no player wants to miss. You want to go out there and perform in front of over 40,000 and you want to play against the likes of Ronaldo, Rooney, Giggs - what more can you ask for?"
Olof's injury doubt
Aston Villa may go into Saturday's Barclays Premier League encounter with United missing inspirational defender Olof Mellberg after the Swedish international injured his back on international duty.
Mellberg looks unlikely to feature in Sweden's side for Wednesday's Euro 2008 qualifier against Northern Ireland and now faces an uphill battle to regain fitness in time for the champions' visit to Villa Park.
Thirty-year-old Mellberg, who usually operates in the centre of defence, has spent the majority of this season at right back after Mark Delaney's retirement and Aaron Hughes' move to Fulham. If Mellberg fails to make Saturday's squad, Martin O'Neill is likely to turn to midfielder Craig Gardner for cover.
Meanwhile, Saturday's match also looks to be too soon for Villa striker John Carew, who limped out of action in Villa's 2-0 win over Everton last month.
"Carew is improving," Martin O'Neill said, "but I would, at this minute, say he was unlikely to be available for Saturday. Saturday would be the fourth week and we were always anticipating between four and six weeks."
Credit : http://www.manutd.com/
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