The derby-day reverse to Manchester City trimmed the
lead to 12 points with seven games to play, enough to cause a minor bout of the jitters for some fans in the wake of what happened at the end of last year's Barclays Premier League campaign.
Any trip to Stoke City is usually tough and the Potters are desperate for points themselves after slipping down the table. However, the United manager is determined to secure victory ahead of the midweek journey south to West Ham next Wednesday.
"We have a job to do," stated Sir Alex. "The incentives are there for ourselves in the sense that we've only got seven games left.
"The challenge is there for Stoke as well. I don't think they will go down but, nonetheless, they're in a precarious situation because, down the bottom of that league, you don't pick up a lot of points. I think they'll get enough to get out.
"I don't think we should look at our position in terms of being 12 points clear. What matters is winning on Sunday and we need to do that.
As we always do, we should just try to do our best. We have a job to do on Sunday and we need to do it."
The boss doesn't accept the view that Manchester City deserved to win Monday's top-of-the-table clash at Old Trafford.
"It's always disappointing to lose a derby," he conceded at his press conference. "There was nothing in it between the two teams.
"Possession-wise, they were better in the first half and we were better in the second half but lost two bad goals and you can't do that in derby games. It was a fantastic derby in the
sense of the intensity.
"The start of the game was absolutely brilliant. Both teams went for it and it was end-to-end. Both had half-chances of sorts but it ended up that Joe Hart had the only save in the
match to make. There was only one save in the whole match between the two goalkeepers. That gives you an idea about how close the game was.
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