Sir Alex Ferguson urges his Manchester United players not to let their standards slip and adopt a 'rubbish atttitude'

Sir Alex Ferguson has urged his Manchester United players not to adopt a 'rubbish attitude' as they embark on a run of fixtures against the Premier League's 'lower teams'.

With the exception of Everton on February 10, United do not meet any more members of England's elite until April, when rivals Manchester City head to Old Trafford.

United can move seven points clear of City with a victory over Southampton on Wednesday night but Ferguson insists nothing can be taken for granted.

"A glance at our next few fixtures and the Premier League table may have a few fans drooling because, with the exception of Everton, we have a run of matches against teams from the bottom half of the table," Ferguson told United Review.

"Some might feel this presents us with an opportunity to turn the screw and put our championship rivals under big pressure

"I agree to the extent that we are at a vital stage of the season and that we must keep picking up points through the present busy period.

"But let's not fool ourselves into believing that we are now entering a phase against the lower teams that will present us with easy pickings.

"That would be a rubbish attitude and if we slip into that kind of attitude I can't think of an easier way to blunt our challenge, because there just aren't any easy games in this league of ours.

"On their day, teams can beat anyone. That is what happened to us last season with some surprising results during the run-in costing us the league title."