Ander Herrera knows Manchester United can ill afford to slip up at title-chasing Tottenham Hotspur.
Life after Alex Ferguson continues to be jarring for the Old Trafford faithful, with this another turbulent campaign for the 20-time league champions.
Louis van Gaal's style of football has been widely criticised, yet his side enter the home straight with a chance of squeezing into the Champions League spots.
United's win at Manchester City before the international break was followed by a narrow victory over Everton, giving Herrera and his teammates confidence ahead of Sunday's trip to second-placed Spurs.
“I think it is an important moment of the season because we don’t have many games left,” the Spanish midfielder said.
“It’s good that we are in good form and we have to keep winning our games.
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“It’ll be a great game. They are very strong and fighting for the title.
“Every player wants to play in this type of game and we will go to White Hart Lane to win.”
Recent history suggests Herrera has every reason to be confident, with United unbeaten in their last 14 Premier League trips to White Hart Lane.
Mauricio Pochettino’s second-placed side are a much better Spurs outfit than United have faced in recent years, but Van Gaal’s men have impressed against the better sides this term.
United have lost only one of seven matches played against fellow top-six clubs this term – a run they will look to improve in North London.
“I think we perform better against top teams and always give our best, and Spurs is one of those top teams,” Herrera told MUTV.
"I think Spurs and Leicester are the only teams that have been consistent.
"I watched Spurs' game at Liverpool, they controlled pretty much all of the game and played very well in the second half and could have won.
“They are still fighting for the title and we have to respect them because they have very good players.
“I think we have seen some surprises in the Premier League, this season and Dele Alli is one of them. Also I didn’t expect (Eric) Dier to play as well as he has done in midfield.
“Alli is a player who doesn’t need to touch the ball all the time. He waits for his moment and he has good timing into the box.
“He scores goals and assists often. The best way to defend against good players is by getting the ball.
“We have the capacity to do that, we have shown that against very good teams – we can beat them with the ball. That’s the best way to do it.
"We have been the better team against Arsenal, Manchester City and Chelsea so we have to believe."
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hall of shame
SUNDERLAND 2002-03
No one has ended a Premier League season quite like Sunderland. They lost each of their final 15 games, taking no points after January. They ended up with 19 in total, sacking managers Peter Reid and Howard Wilkinson and losing 3-1 to Charlton when they scored three own goals in eight minutes.
SUNDERLAND 2005-06
Until Derby came along, Sunderland’s total of 15 points was the Premier League’s record low. They made it until May and their final home game before winning at the Stadium of Light while they lost a joint record 29 of their 38 league games.
HUDDERSFIELD 2018-19
Joined Derby as the only team to be relegated in March. No striker scored until January, while only two players got more assists than goalkeeper Jonas Lossl. The mid-season appointment Jan Siewert was to end his time as Huddersfield manager with a 5.3 per cent win rate.
ASTON VILLA 2015-16
Perhaps the most inexplicably bad season, considering they signed Idrissa Gueye and Adama Traore and still only got 17 points. Villa won their first league game, but none of the next 19. They ended an abominable campaign by taking one point from the last 39 available.
FULHAM 2018-19
Terrible in different ways. Fulham’s total of 26 points is not among the lowest ever but they contrived to get relegated after spending over £100 million (Dh457m) in the transfer market. Much of it went on defenders but they only kept two clean sheets in their first 33 games.
LA LIGA: Sporting Gijon, 13 points in 1997-98.
BUNDESLIGA: Tasmania Berlin, 10 points in 1965-66
