THE POWER OF THREE; CAN ANYBODY TITLE RACE NOW STOP UNITED, CHELSEA AND CITY?

Byline: DAVID McDONNELL [email protected] By DARREN LEWIS [email protected] By DAVID ANDERSON [email protected]

Rio: Return of injured stars to give us the edge RIO FERDINAND believes he has finally conquered the injury curse which brought an end to his England career.

Manchester United.'s veteran centreback has not played for England for almost 18 months and has been consistently ignored by Roy Hodgson since he took charge.

But he has been an ever-present in his club's defence this season, his dubious fitness record consigned to the past.

While United have been without defenders Nemanja Vidic (below), Phil Jones and Chris Smalling this term, Ferdinand, 34, has helped to fill the void. And his fitness and form is set to earn him a 12-month extension to his contract. which expires this season.

Ferdinand, who celebrated 10 years at Old Trafford this year, said: "I've not been speaking about my injuries because there haven't been any. Over the last 18 months, I have managed it really well.

"It's testament to the club and the medical and science department for helping me along. I'm happy to be playing consistently week-in, week-out."

along. consA Although United are top of the tat table, their lack of options at the back, with so many defenders injured, has seen them concede 16 goals in the Premier League so far.

Pba Fer sive they star United.'s attackers have bailed out the defence but Ferdinand claimed their defensive record will improve once they start to get players back. "When you have a bit of stability in terms of personnel, results start forming a bit more consistently," he said. "But we're in the position we want to be. We set our stall out at the beginning of the Champions League to make sure we qualify comfortably.

"We've done that with games to spare and we're sitting nicely in the group."

Ferdinand said United will not start focusing on a potential 20th title until the turn of the year when the picture becomes clearer.

"Christmas-time is when we really evaluate it, through the turn of the year," said Ferdinand.

"If we're in the same position then as we are now, we'd say it's a good start to the season. But it's still too early to look at the league table and start singing and dancing."

Cech: We have dropped silly points.. but so will our two title rivals DEFIANT Petr Cech vows Chelsea will hold their nerve as the title hunt boils down to a classic three-horse race.

The Blues are suffering their traditional winter wobble following Sunday's failure to finish off Liverpool at Stamford Bridge.

g In three of the last four seasons, Chelsea's Premier League momentum has faltered in November - sparking runs that ultimately cost Luiz Felipe Scolari, Carlo Ancelotti (right) and Andre Villas-Boas their jobs. ast four ea's u e as r t z od as pean l-afford to And the European champions could ill-afford to slip up against Liverpool after their draw at Swansea, which followed a damaging 3-2 home defeat by Manchester United.

Cech is well aware that his side need to halt the slide quickly in order to keep pace with champions Manchester City and pacesetters United.

He said: "The Manchester clubs have been consistent in getting points. PREMIER "We have lost some points as Man Man Chelsea Everton they did at the start of the season, so it looks like we will be the three teams that will chase the title. Tottenham Arsenal............

Fulham "But let's not forget the others, as every game is difficult. We can drop points against any team and the most consistent team will win.

"It's not a huge problem as we are still at the start of the season, but any advantage you give to Manchester City or Man United is something they can use in the future. e e f y e y s n "That is something g you don't want to give your opponents, even if it is one point because every point matters in the end when you want to win the league.

"We know from previous experiences even goal difference can be decisive, so we will have to overcome this."

" After a stunning sequence of seven wins and a draw in their opening eight matches, Chelsea's formp g g Chelse shud a th-dy shuddered to a halt in their ninth - just as it did last year.

d A sid Matte dipped fr Since that defeat by Sir Alex Ferguson's side, Roberto Di Matteo's men have dipped from being four points clear at the top to three points behind in third.

Chelsea have also conceded nine goals in their last six Premier League games and despite his optimism, Cech admitted to frustration at yet another stutter. "You can see the disappointment," he said. "We lost the game to United which we shouldn't have lost.

"We have then drawn two games we should have won against Swansea and Liverpool.

he gam wh hav "dr we wSw Liv"lo ga le wpww "But there is a long way to 38 games in the league and there will always be periods where we might not win every game.

"If we start looking back lo th pt thinking we lost points here and there, we won't win the league.

w famy9sf "You must look forward and assemble as many points as you can. Around 90 and you should be fine."

Hart: Stop comparing us to Reds..

we're kings JOE HART is tired of seeing Manchester City's exploits compared to their neighbours and biggest rivals, Manchester United.

The Blues' fightback to beat Tottenham on Sunday earned comparisons with the Reds' habit of snatching late wins - including Saturday night's recovery from 2-0 down to beat Aston Villa.

But Hart feels City's feats should not be judged against United's achievements.

The England No.1 was peeved to hear City's recovery against Spurs likened to United's comeback against Villa. "We're our own team now," he said. "We're developing a real identity and this is what we do.

"We turn up to win. We've got that belief. With the quality and the spirit, we're not here for anything other than to win."

Hart preferred to put City's dramatic win over Spurs in the context of last season's title success and felt it showed why the Blues are champions.

"Someone said before that the quality we've got on top of our character, means we're going to do well," said the City keeper. "Our spirit has never been in question. We have that and we have quality. Those two combined make us the team we are.

"You have to be able to win when things aren't going your way. That's the only way you're going to do it because people are snapping at your heels. So you have to win regardless of how you play.

"It's not a quality we've developed just recently, it's instilled in the people. We're a group of winners - 20-odd players who play to win."

PREMIER TABLE PWDLF APts Man Utd ......... 11 9 0 2 29 16 27 Man City......... 11 7 4 0 20 10 25 Chelsea ........... 11 7 3 1 23 11 24 Everton ........... 11 5 5 1 21 14 20 West Brom ..... 11 6 2 3 17 12 20 West Ham ...... 11 5 3 3 14 11 18 Tottenham ..... 11 5 2 4 18 16 17 Arsenal............ 11 4 4 3 18 11 16 Fulham ............ 11 4 4 3 24 19 16 Newcastle ...... 11 3 5 3 12 15 14 Swansea.......... 11 3 4 4 16 15 13 Stoke ............... 11 2 6 3 9 10 12 Liverpool ........ 11 2 6 3 14 16 12 Wigan.............. 11 3 2 6 12 18 11 Norwich.......... 11 2 5 4 8 18 11 Sunderland .... 10 1 6 3 7 11 9 Aston Villa ..... 11 2 3 6 10 17 9 Reading...........100 6 4 12 18 6 Southampton 11 1 2 8 15 29 5 QPR ................. 11 0 4 7 8 20 4

CAPTION(S):

LATE SHOW Dzeko's goal sinks Tottenham

RIO GRANDFerdinand has shrugged off his injury troubles this seasons

KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON Cech is not worried by Chelsea's dip in form s

HART AND SOULThe City keeper has hailed the champions' fighting spirit s

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Title Annotation:	Sport
Publication:	The Mirror (London, England)
Geographic Code:	4EUUK
Date:	Nov 13, 2012
Words:	1385
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