Fear of failure fires United, says Hughes

Certainly the point gained by Tevez near the end at Blackburn on Saturday and the two points stolen from Chelsea by Heskey's injury-time goal at Stamford Bridge last Monday have combined to tip the balance United's way. At this level of the game, the margins really are that fine. But it would be foolish to talk of this as good fortune.

To prevail when things do not seem to be going your way — as United did early on Saturday evening in Lancashire — takes something special. In many ways it is a state of mind.

United looked like they might not score at Ewood Park as Blackburn goalkeeper Brad Friedel and the elbow of defender Brett Emerton kept an increasingly imposing red tide at bay.

But then, as ITV's Clive Tyldesley famously said moments before United turned the 1999 Champions League Final their way: "They always score."

On this occasion Sir Alex Ferguson's players could not manage two goals. But as Tevez stretched his neck to divert a Paul Scholes header into the roof of the goal with two minutes of normal time remaining, you sensed that one would be enough.

Afterwards Blackburn manager Mark Hughes — a former United centre forward — said: 'When you get the opportunity to play for Manchester United you have special talents anyway and one of those you need to have is to be a winner and not to accept defeat.

"Another of those demands is to keep on going right to the end, because the consequences of not getting results are not good.

"Certainly at my time at the club, one of the big things was the fear of failure. It was not a case of being so rigid with fear that you couldn't perform.

"It was more a case of: if you put in a poor performance or did not deliver there were plenty of people who would line up and criticise you. That is what drives these top players on.

"They want to win things. They don't accept they are ever beaten and when they are, they don't say they have lost, they say they have run out of time. There is always the fear of the manager, too. You always have to go back into the dressing room and that certainly keeps them on their toes."

Rovers scared the life out of United in the first half as Roque Santa Cruz, cleverly deployed wide on the right, drifted infield to score after Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic made a mess of dealing with a long throw.

Had the home team scored again during an opening period that saw them in the ascendancy, United may have struggled to recover. As it was, Ferguson's team were dominant in the second half and had already been denied two penalties and seen Friedel make three top-class saves before they struck.

"When you get to this stage of the season, you can focus your mind quite clearly," said Hughes.

"You can go into each game with the same mentality and the same drive and positive thoughts. You expect to win. You don't hope to win. That's what they work on. They work in dreams and miracles and on occasions they produce them. They are never beaten."

Ferguson was keen to accentuate the positives as he reflected on a point that gives United the luxury of knowing they can lose at Chelsea on Saturday and still retain their title if they win their remaining two games, against West Ham and Wigan.

However, there were signs of defensive frailty during this game that may concern the United manager going into Wednesday's Champions League semi-final first leg at Barcelona.

Watching scouts from Spain will have noticed how dreadful right back Wes Brown was throughout and how unusually uncomfortable central defender Vidic looked as he was rushed back from injury by Ferguson.

Hughes' plucky Blackburn side were very close to inflicting real damage here and they do not have the type of attacking players who Barcelona possess. Ferguson will wait to see how Wayne Rooney is after a kick to his hip forced him to limp off. But he feels goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar will have recovered from another groin problem and is hopeful that Owen Hargreaves' hamstring may also allow him to play on Wednesday.

Ferguson said: "The attitude and character of my players in the second half was fantastic. I am really proud of them."