EPL: You can't win the mind games, Fergie tells Mancini

Manchester: Manchester United coach Sir Alex Ferguson insists he won't be beaten at his own tricks as Roberto Mancini attempts mind games in the race for the English Premier League title. Mancini insisted Manchester City's EPL challenge was over despite closing the gap on the leaders to five points on Wednesday.

"I think he has maybe picked the wrong time to say it - there are still five games to go. The Premier League is fascinating. Our experience will help us and Sunday's game is the one to focus on," he told reporters. Ferguson is backing United to recover from their midweek slip up away to Wigan.

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

Sir Alex Ferguson insists he won\'t be beaten at his own tricks.

Ferguson also confirmed that Paul Scholes will return to the side for their weekend clash against Aston Villa after being badly missed against Wigan. United haven't lost any of the 12 matches Scholes has appeared in this season.

"Paul has shown his influence since he came back but I did the right thing to rest him on Wednesday. He will be fresh on Sunday and he will play."

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