Ferguson targets Chelsea

FERGUSON'S VIEW Portsmouth 1-0 Man Utd

Sir Alex Ferguson believes Manchester United's match with Chelsea on 8 May could become a play-off for second spot in the Premiership.

"The Chelsea game begins to look really big now," said Ferguson after United's 1-0 defeat at Portsmouth on Saturday.

"We had plenty of possession but we got too easily frustrated in the second half. It wasn't going to be our day.

"Portsmouth worked their socks off but the goal looked a bit scrappy and fell nicely for Steve Stone."

Ferguson was not even prepared to take the easy option of complaining about referee Neale Barry's failure to give a last minute penalty when Gary Neville's overhead shot clearly hit defender Matt Taylor on the elbow before spiralling over.

Neville was still complaining long and loud to the official as the teams left the field at the end but Fergie said: "I didn't see it clearly but I have every faith in Neale Barry's ability as a referee."

Only the top two teams go automatically into Champions League combat next term while third and fourth have to qualify and Ferguson had committed his team to avoiding that by winning all their remaining six matches before this one.