Alex Ferguson claims Manchester United cannot give up in the title race because that would be against the very nature of the club.
United have given themselves some hope of clawing their way back into championship reckoning after demolishing Derby 5-0 on Wednesday night and Ferguson claims the ethos of the club is to fight all the way.
He says the likes of Roy Keane, Nicky Butt, Paul Scholes and the Neville brothers will make sure no one surrenders on the pitch.
Ferguson claims these players reflect his own determination to win. "We can't give up," vowed the United manager. "The nature of what this club is all about means they can't do that.
"With people like Keane, Butt, Scholes and the Nevilles, they will make sure that won't happen.
"We're capable of going on a good run, but we have to make sure we don't make any more mistakes.
"We need clean sheets now. We can make chances and we can score goals. That part is good, but we need more clean sheets at the other end."
Victory over Derby, which was United's biggest win of the season, lifted them to fifth in the table - eight points behind leaders Liverpool who have played a game fewer.
The fixtures are set up for United to string together a few wins, and after playing Middlesbrough on Saturday they face Southampton, Everton and Fulham.
They are all winnable games for the champions, and with four victories United could be back snapping at the heels of the leaders come the New Year.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who scored twice against Derby, refuses to look that far ahead. Instead he trotted out the old football cliche about taking it one game at a time.
He claims United have had other false dawns this season and must not get carried away by beating Derby.
"We're just taking it one game at a time," said the Norwegian international.
"We can't think about the title for now. We just have to take it one game at a time and try and be consistent."
"We've moved up the table but we can't think about the table. We have to concentrate on our performances because if we start performing as a team and stay consistent you never know."
