United head to Aston Villa on Wednesday night looking to avenge their first home defeat to the Midlands outfit since 1981. More importantly, they need three points to keep pace with, or even overtake, Chelsea, depending on how the Premier League leaders fare at the same time against Everton at Goodison Park. Sir Alex Ferguson once famously described this period as "squeaky bum time" and Brown knows exactly why. "Once we get to this stage of the season it is no longer about wanting to win," said the England star. "We have to win. We have to play well and we have to score goals. "Recent results mean we have a lot of confidence at the moment. Hopefully we can keep it that way." With the exception of Arsenal, who were put to the sword in merciless fashion nine days ago, and Birmingham - who drew 1-1 at St Andrew's last month - United's recent opponents have all been from the wrong end of the table. But it was not a Premier League game which gave United their current momentum. 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, 30, said. "But when we met them before we weren't playing too well, which is why I feel it will be different this time." A run of nine successive United away wins over Villa only ended with a goalless draw last season. It was 1995 - when Alan Hansen famously delivered his "You'll never win anything with kids" statement - that Sir Alex Ferguson's team last tasted a league defeat on one of their favourite grounds. Rarely since then have Villa been quite so competitive as they are now, though. James Milner, Gabriel Agbonlahor and Ashley Young have all caught the eye at various times, although, with their strengths so obviously in counter-attacking, there is still a belief they will come up short in the battle for fourth, which Ferguson for one finds so intriguing. "There is a consistent vein about Villa," said the United boss. "There are no dramatic changes with them. "You get the odd bad result but we are all getting them this season, and they had that great performance against us. They were very determined that day. "It is easy to see them getting to fourth place but you could say the same thing about a few others as well. "It is very interesting, possibly the most competitive part of the league because it is so important to get that fourth position and to be in the Champions League."
