Aston Villa captain Ron Vlaar insists there's positives to be drawn from their defeat at Manchester United.

Villa remain just three points clear of the drop zone with four matches still to play and have a worse goal difference than relegation rivals Wigan Athletic, but Vlaar is confident they can stay up after limiting the damage at United.

He said: "It's a positive thing. We all know what happened at Chelsea and it didn't happen this time.

"Some people expected it but it's an improvement.

"The second half was a lot better, we had better positions, we didn't lose possession and kept the spaces a lot smaller.

"It was more difficult for Manchester United. We are four goals behind Wigan so we have to get enough points. Everyone feels responsible."