For the first time since the Premiership era began 11 years ago, United’s title aspirations were realistically over with two months of the season remaining following a horror run that saw them win just twice in eight games from the middle of January and also dumped them out of the Champions League.

Although Sir Alex Ferguson’s men managed to salvage some pride by clinching the FA Cup at Millwall’s expense in May, the trophy rates as a poor third to the major prizes and even if United were not to wrest the title back from Arsenal this term, Gill expects them to put up far more of a fight.

“You might not win the league every season but when we’ve lost it before, it’s been towards the end of the season,” Gill told www.manutd.com

“We need to be up there challenging into March, April and May. Then if you don’t win it, at least you’ve made a great race of it.

“We’ve got to get back to that. Winning the FA Cup was a great end to the season but what happened in the league was disappointing.

“We need to come out all guns blazing next season, so we get up there in the league and we reach the latter stages of the European Cup.”

Recent summer talk around Old Trafford has been dominated by the prospect of Wayne Rooney’s arrival from Everton.

Gill has already stated publicly the Red Devils do not have the money to seal such a huge transfer and that the arrivals of Alan Smith and Gabriel Heinze represent the end of incoming moves.

Heinze was not around to meet his new team-mates today as he is on international duty with Argentina in Copa America. It is Diego Forlan who has made the most stunning contribution in Peru though.

The Uruguayan’s thunderous strike against Ecuador may not be enough to salvage his United future, but it should guarantee some interest in the striker before the curtain opens on the new season.

With all the Euro 2004 contingent given extra time off and goalkeeper Tim Howard appearing for the United States last night in their 1-1 draw with Poland, Smith and fellow new recruit Liam Miller met only half their new team-mates as they went through their paces today.

There was also the return of an old face, with Carlos Queiroz back in the role of Ferguson’s assistant after his ill-fated year with Real Madrid.

Banned central defender Rio Ferdinand was also present, even though he will not be free from suspension until September 20.

The loss of Ferdinand for eight months following his failure to take a drugs test at Carrington last year has been cited in many quarters as one of the major reasons for the club’s stunning demise.

Gill does not disagree with the assertion, although he insisted the debacle could not have been handled much differently, even if there were plenty of lessons to be learned on all sides from the whole sorry saga.

“Losing Rio was a big blow,” he said.

“You don’t lose a £30million defender – one of the top defenders in European football and one of the best at the 2002 World Cup – without it hurting you. It would be stupid to say it didn’t.

“If you looked at our form before Rio was suspended, we had the best defence. We were sitting at the top of the league in very good shape and then the wheels fell off.

“I think Rio, the club and the FA would agree there are lessons to be learned.

“We clearly felt aggrieved at the way it came into the public domain much sooner than in any other case and clearly, if you look at some of the precedents on punishment, they were a lot less than the eight month ban Rio ended up with.

“But it’s important to note that the FA, both at the original hearing and at the appeal, were pushing for a 12 month sentence. So I think it’s difficult to know what the situation would have been (if Rio had admitted culpability).

“I do think the procedures that the FA are bringing in for discipline next season will be a great improvement and now we just have to put the matter behind us.

“Obviously we desperately want Rio back on September 20 as the world-class defender he is and to get on with our lives.”