Manchester United Manager Sir Alex Ferguson Believes Keeping A Clean Sheet Against Sunderland Was Important

Sir Alex Ferguson insists he is pleased with his side’s goalless draw against Sunderland despite having squandered the opportunity to go level on points with league leaders Chelsea.

Manchester United trail the Premier League champions by two points, but Carlo Ancelotti’s play Arsenal on Sunday and could extend their lead further.

Ferguson’s side have failed to win on the road this season and their result at the Stadium of Light was their fourth draw away from home this term.

Prior to their match, United had failed to keep a clean sheet in their last three league games and while their leaky defence kept Valencia at bay in their midweek Champions League tie, Ferguson’s men have looked far from assured at the back this term.

But the strikeforce of Sunderland failed to find the net against the visitors and the United manager insists this is the biggest positive he can take from the game.

“You've got to give credit to Sunderland, their home record is fantastic. We've had to defend really well and that's pleasing for me. Our back four were fantastic,” Ferguson told Sky Sports.

“We have had difficult games away from home, but we’ve had consistency and we're not losing. The most important thing is not conceding away from home.

“I am satisfied. It's always a difficult league, Sunderland's home form has been fantastic this season.”

Ferguson dismissed the excuse of playing in Europe midweek as a reason for their inability to find the net.

“It's always more difficult to play in Europe. But we've experienced that many times,” Ferguson said.

“They started as we expected. They were very aggressive and positive, a lot of crosses in our box and we had to deal with that. But as the game wore on that became less of a problem.”

The game was postponed 10 ten minutes as there was a leak in United’s changing room, but Ferguson has rubbished the idea of it hindering their preparation for the match, adding:“It's just one of those accidents – the Sunderland staff were fantastic.”