Nemanja Matic insists the Premier League title race “is not finished”, with Manchester United intending to chase down the crown.
The Red Devils have slipped 11 points adrift of arch-rivals Manchester City, with a derby defeat at Old Trafford doing their cause few favours.
Jose Mourinho’s side do, however, still have 21 games to take in and plenty of time in which to bridge the gap to their record-breaking neighbours.
Matic believes they are capable of doing just that, with nobody at Old Trafford about to give up in the battle for top-flight supremacy.
The Serbia international told Sky Sports: "The gap is big, obviously 11 points is a lot, but the league is not finished. I'm sure there will be very interesting games until the end, and of course that they will drop some points. We will see what will happen.
"As I say there are still many games to play and I think that we are not out of the title race. If we want to catch them, we have to win almost every game.
"But as we know, and as everyone knows, in the Premier League it is not always possible to win every game, but we will try to do that.
"Obviously we are still in the title race. We also have the cups, we are in the knockout stages of the Champions League, so Manchester United is going game by game to be in there."
Getty ImagesIf United are to challenge for top honours this season, then they will need key players to perform at the peak of their powers.
Unfortunately for the Red Devils, they are currently without the services of Paul Pogba – with the French midfielder, who has already missed 12 games through injury this season, serving a three-match ban.
Matic admits that he is a big miss, but believes Mourinho has enough depth in his squad to cover a short-term absence.
He added: "He's a very important player for us, he always brings some extra quality to our team. So of course we miss him, but we also have some very important players to substitute him.
"Obviously when he comes back, for sure we are going to be stronger because as you know he has a lot of quality and he is very important to the club."