Man Utd defender Brown: Chelsea will drop more points

Manchester United defender Wes Brown says the players now feel they're coming into their best form.

Brown points to the explosive Carling Cup semi-final with Manchester City as the point when United really clicked into gear.

"Those two games were brilliant," he said. "Coming off after the second leg knowing we had beaten them and earned a place at Wembley gave everyone a massive lift."

Nevertheless, a succession of comfortable victories has galvanised Ferguson's side, erasing a goal difference advantage that Chelsea were nursing and exerting a degree of pressure on the Londoners, whose own inconsistency continues to be a drawback.

"It is a bit topsy turvy," admitted Brown. "We have had some good results in the last few weeks while Chelsea dropped points against Hull.

"When you look at the table now, anyone could take it, but knowing other teams have dropped points only matters if we keep winning.

"What does gives you a bit of a confidence is knowing that when you go into a game, you finish it by being top."

It seems the chance of going top will be a far bigger motivational tool than blanking out the memory of a desperately disappointing performance in United's previous encounter with Villa.

"Maybe there is a sense of revenge from December," Brown said. "But when we met them before we weren't playing too well, which is why I feel it will be different this time."