Rio swallows a familiar medicine

Rio Ferdinand admits Manchester United got a taste of their own medicine at Tottenham on Sunday, but the defender insists the team should not be disheartened at coming away from White Hart Lane with a point.

United looked set to re-establish a seven-point lead over bitter rivals Manchester City after Robin van Persie put them on course for victory, but Clint Dempsey snatched a point for Spurs with a 93rd-minute equaliser.

"It is disappointing," Ferdinand said. "But as soon as you get off the pitch and into the changing room you think back to how many times we have done that to other teams over the years and you have to accept it and take it on the chin."

United are the ones who usually revel in pulling off a result with a late goal - they have snatched last-gasp winners in no fewer than four matches this season and they also stole a draw at West Ham with an injury-time equaliser from Van Persie in the FA Cup.

Most critics admit this United team does not rank up there with the other sides who have helped Ferguson win his 12 titles, yet the Red Devils are odds-on favourites to top the Barclays Premier League come May.

The fixture list makes for comfortable reading for any United fan. Other than a potentially tricky home game against Everton, the club have a run of winnable fixtures against the likes of Southampton, Fulham, West Ham and Reading coming up.

City, on the other hand, face games against Chelsea and Liverpool next month, but Ferdinand is not getting carried away by the prospect of another Premier League title.

"It is a good position to be in but there are no medals given out yet so you have to keep chalking off the games and get as many three points in the bag as you can," the United defender told MUTV.

"You have to get the difficult games out of the way and Tottenham is a difficult place to come. A lot of teams will drop points here, so I don't think we can be too down about coming away from White Hart Lane with a point.

"They are a confident team. Under the new management they are doing well."