The Premier League leaders went to the DW Stadium on Wednesday expected to take another sizeable step towards the successful defence of their top-flight crown.

They were, however, humbled 1-0 by the relegation-haunted Latics and saw Manchester City close to within five points of the summit with a convincing victory over West Brom.

City boss Roberto Mancini has suggested that the title is still heading for Old Trafford, but those inside the United camp are refusing to be drawn into end-of-season mind games.

Instead, their focus is locked on a return to winning ways in a home date with Aston Villa on Sunday, allowing them to pick up a 12th victory in 14 outings.

Perspective

"We have to put it in a bit of perspective," Ferguson said of the Wigan setback.

"You drop points in the second half of the season. We have done it most years. There has been an odd year when we have gone on a long run without losing but a couple of years back we lost 4-1 to Liverpool and won the league.

"You do drop points on the run-in. City and ourselves have both experienced that.

"But from the position we were in a few months ago, to where we are today, we have to be delighted.

"The great part of our club is that we do recover, and we have to recover from Wednesday."