Know-how crucial — United ’keeper

EDWIN VAN DER SAR believes Manchester United have an awareness that separates them from the rest — and the Dutch goalkeeper is confident the club can lift an unprecedented fourth successive Premier League title.

United will go back to the top tomorrow if they beat Portsmouth at Old Trafford; Chelsea do not play Arsenal until Sunday.

Van der Sar (39) knows what it is like to have that winning mentality.

He said: “Experience definitely helps. You’ve been there before — through narrow escapes and must–win games. You know how to handle them.

“The more you go through these situations the better you are at dealing with them.”

Ferguson may again opt to pair Wes Brown and Jonny Evans in central defence following the impressive 3-1 victory against Arsenal last weekend.

Rio Ferdinand remains absent through suspension while Nemanja Vidic has a nerve problem in the right side of his leg and could miss his seventh match in a row.

Meanwhile, Owen Hargreaves has been left out of United’s Champions League squad.

The move almost certainly ends any hope the midfielder had of forcing his way into Fabio Capello’s World Cup squad and raises fresh doubts over his chances of making a full recovery from double knee surgery in October 2008.