Schmeichel claims that never-say-die spirit is one of United’s greatest attributes.

It comes as little surprise, then, to hear that the legendary goalkeeper is tipping his old club to win a record fourth successive championship after losing 1-0 with Aston Villa on his first competitive return to Old Trafford.

‘‘Well I always expected United to win,’’ he said. ‘‘People have been writing them off so many times over the years.

‘‘I think the worst situation ever was in ’95-96 when before we played Newcastle we were 12 points behind in March and we ended up winning the league.

‘‘That’s the way Manchester United are and they never give up.

‘‘It’s like what happened the other night against Nantes, they kept going and kept going and kept going and four minutes into injury time they got a penalty and scored from it.

‘‘They never ever believe a game or a championship is lost.

‘‘So I expect them to be up there. If you look at the players Manchester United have, if you look at their squad and the experience it has, then I think they’ve got the edge.

‘‘I think they’ll win it this year.’’

Ruud van Nistelrooy scored the only goal on 50 minutes after Villa’s George Boateng decided for some reason to carry the ball back towards his own box.

It was van Nistelrooy’s 28th competitive goal for United, and 19th in the Premiership, and Schmeichel was impressed by the way he kept going after missing an easy chance early on.

‘‘If you don’t give up, it will come good for you and that’s what he does,’’ said the Dane.

‘‘We’ve played Manchester United three times. He’s scored in two of those games and in one he has scored two goals.

‘‘Only players of a certain calibre can do that and Ruud is a class act. They must be very, very happy at Old Trafford to have him.’’

Despite Schmeichel’s praise for United and van Nistelrooy, he was still deeply disappointed to lose.

The Dane claims the defeat has effectively ended Villa’s chances of earning a UEFA Cup spot this season.

‘‘I hate losing so I haven’t had a good day,’’ he said. ‘‘I came here to win a football game. I know that was a tall order, but the way things went I’m disappointed.

‘‘The players were aware of the situation we’re in. We needed to get something out of this game and it’s going to be very difficult for us to qualify for Europe.’’

Ryan Giggs missed the game with a knock while Phil Neville was absent because of flu and Sir Alex Ferguson hopes to have both available for tomorrow’s Champions League match against Nantes at Old Trafford.