Evra backs United to progress

(GETTY IMAGES)

Patrice Evra feels Manchester United have the power to come through their Champions League examination by Inter Milan in a fortnight.

United's failure to take advantage of their dominance in the San Siro last night means they must win the second leg at Old Trafford to reach the quarter-finals.

On the basis that Jose Mourinho's men surely cannot be as bad again, some are now wondering whether the holders' best chance has gone.

But Evra is confident his team-mates can repeat their outstanding performance against the runaway Serie A leaders - and this time get the goals to go with it.

"It's a little bit frustrating because we had a lot opportunities to score, particularly in the first half," said Evra.

"But overall we played very well.

"Now we are at home and we have to win, and I think we have the power to do that."

After their record-breaking exploits in the Barclays Premier League recently, it was no surprise to see United keep a clean sheet on their travels.

Evra was a stand-out performer in a defence that totally subdued highly-rated Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Adriano, who was substituted before the end.

The performance was even more remarkable given Nemanja Vidic was suspended and his replacement, Jonny Evans, was only declared fit on the morning of the game and left Italy limping heavily.

"We have had a lot of injuries problems in defence recently but we have still looked strong in every game," said Evra.

"The Inter game is another example of that - we were without Vidic who is a very important defender for us, but Jonny Evans came in and played very well.

"I am really pleased for him because he's a top quality defender."