Edwin van der Sar has exclusively told skysports.com that he is confident Manchester United remain in pole position to win the Premiership title.
The recent 2-1 defeat at Arsenal left United with a six-point advantage at the top of the table, following champions Chelsea's 2-0 reverse at Liverpool.
While Van der Sar accepts a nine-point cushion would have been a bonus, the experienced keeper is staying upbeat about the leaders' title prospects.
"I think we're in pole position in the league," Van der Sar told skysports.com. "Of course, we're six points clear.
"At the moment we would rather have taken nine points, but the lead is still six points.
"Everybody is confident and we're not a team that's having problems."
At Emirates Stadium, United conceded twice in the last 10 minutes, prompting comments from the Arsenal camp that Sir Alex Ferguson's side are vulnerable in the closing stages of matches.
Ferguson dismissed the claims as 'petty' and Van der Sar felt the issue was due to Arsenal adopting a more positive approach.
He added: "It went quite well until 10 minutes before time. They put on two offensive players in the team and when they are going to try and get an equaliser, sometimes you concede one.
"But we didn't count on the second to come also.
"We were in control of the game, but you can never take your eye off the opposition.
"They throw as many bodies forward as they can and our job is to keep them at bay, and maybe counter attack.
"But it didn't really happen, so the only thing that didn't really work out was the last 15 minutes."