Evra: We deserved to lose

Patrice Evra believes Manchester United are putting their Barclays Premier League title hopes at risk with the kind of performance they produced in their 3-2 defeat to Tottenham.

Of their six matches so far, the Red Devils have been behind in five. They have kept just one clean sheet and conceded nine goals, while this latest loss leaves them four points behind early pacesetters Chelsea and already in that dreaded game of catch-up.

Evra knows it simply is not good enough, and the Frenchman said: "It is too much if we want to win the title. The result against Tottenham is what happens when you only play for 45 minutes. The game is 90 minutes long and we deserved to lose because we only played for 45."

He added: "To concede three goals at Old Trafford is not good enough."

Indeed, Evra went further, questioning United's mentality.

"The problem is in our heads," he said. "It looked like we stayed in the hotel. The first 45 minutes had no speed, no focus, we didn't win a lot of challenges and we conceded some silly goals.

"Maybe I am hard with myself and the team but we only showed the United face in the second half. This is not enough if we want to win the title."

The positives to be gained from a vastly improved second-half display, triggered by the introduction of Wayne Rooney, were tempered by the sight of Jonny Evans hobbling away after the final whistle.

Sir Alex Ferguson said afterwards the Northern Ireland defender was suffering from nothing worse than a dead leg and would be fit for Tuesday's Champions League encounter with CFR Cluj.

If Ferguson is not correct in his assessment, rookie Scott Wootton could be in for the biggest game of his fledgling career as United look to build on their success over Galatasaray.