Bruno Fernandes insists Manchester United are continuing to look up in the Premier League table rather than focusing on the teams chasing them for fourth.
United's goalless draw with Watford at Old Trafford left them looking vulnerable in fourth, with Arsenal now just two points behind them with three games in hand, while Tottenham could also leapfrog them if they won both of their games in hand.
Fernandes missed two excellent chances against the Hornets, while Cristiano Ronaldo and Anthony Elanga also saw opportunities go begging as United failed to win for the third time in four games at Old Trafford.
But while control of finishing fourth and securing Champions League qualification might have been lost, Fernandes saw the dropped points as costly in trying to hunt down Chelsea, who are now three points ahead of United with two games in hand.
"As I said many times, we dropped points for the third [position], that’s the main point for us, we could be one step closer to them," he told MUTV.
"But now is not the time to start thinking how many we should have or how many points we will have at the end, we need to look to the next game."
The difficulty level goes up considerably for United now, with Manchester City at the Etihad next week beginning a run of more difficult fixtures.
“It’s one of the games you know what it means to the city and the fans, for the club and ourselves, it’s one of the games you want to win at all costs," Fernandes said of the derby.
Of the performance against Watford, Fernandes added: “We had big chances to score, I had at least two big chances, but that’s it, it’s one of those days you can be here for another hour and a half and not score a goal.
"If you look at the performance you can say it was good. The next one will be massive for us and our fans and what we want to do in the league."
