Evra: Confidence well placed

Published May. 13, 2011 11:01 a.m. ET

foxsports

Patrice Evra never had any doubts Manchester United would prove themselves to be the best team in the Premier League.

It was an outcome few were predicting in October, when United were in the middle of their early season struggles.

Evra countered them, by telling the Red Devils' critics to wait before delivering their judgements.

He insisted it was never a case of telling the fans what they wanted to hear. Now the France full-back has been proved correct.

"I remember saying you had to pay the musician at the end of the show," he told MUTV.

"I believed in that. I wasn't just saying it to look good in the newspapers. I said that because I believed it.

"I was convinced that no team was better than us this season. Now, that's the result - if we go to Blackburn and win (or draw), we will be champions.

"I am not surprised because I always believed we were the best."

Although there have been suggestions Sir Alex Ferguson might start fielding weakened teams in a bid to keep his players fresh for the Champions League final, that seems unlikely on this occasion.

Darren Fletcher will certainly be hoping for some involvement as he tries to prove his well-being after his recent virus and Ryan Giggs will equal Steve Perryman's record of most appearances - 613 - for one club in the top flight if he makes it on to the Ewood Park pitch.

"If it was going to be anyone, I would want it to be Ryan Giggs," reflected Perryman.

"If you were going to use anyone as an example of how to conduct yourself in terms of being a footballer, he would be it.

"More stuff is known now about exercise and the regimes you need to prolong your career now. Even so, not everyone sticks by that.

"But with all the yoga and dietary stuff, he obviously lives in the right way.

"And he has the talent to match the desire and professionalism.

"He is the type of player who always gets the crowd on their edge of their seats, which obviously wasn't my game.

"He is a danger to any opponent and although I don't know him, looking at it from the outside, he must be a manager's dream."