Patrice Evra expressed his disappointment after France supporters booed the team off following their 1-0 friendly defeat to Nigeria.

The Manchester United defender added that the French fans could learn lessons from their English counterparts who he insists applaud their team even in defeat.

Nigeria shocked France in St Etienne on Tuesday and even with the likes of Franck Ribery, Nicolas Anelka and Karim Benzema at their disposal Raymond Domenich's side had no response.

Evra played the full 90 minutes of the match and declared that the fans whistling throughout the games is only going to have a detrimental effect on the side.

"I am disappointed with the behaviour of those so-called fans," he told skysports.com.

"They should be supporting their team instead of whistling. Manchester lost a big game at Old Trafford against Liverpool 4-1, however the fans still applaud us off the field.

"They understand there are off days in a football team's life. After that defeat we won the league."

Manchester United defender Patrice Evra is relishing the additional pressure that comes at the end of the season, as the moment when the prizes are claimed draws nearer.

United could all but clinch the Premier League title with victory at Wigan Athletic tonight, and need just four points from their last three games to do so outright. They are also in the Champions League final against Barcelona in Rome later this month.

But the 28-year-old is far from daunted by the task ahead of the side, and instead has asserted that he is enjoying the additional pressure, as it is part of the enjoyment of playing for a massive club like Manchester United.

"It's a joy to play in these games and be involved in the title race," he told The Manchester Evening News.

"Sir Alex Ferguson's team-talk before games is all about enjoying and expressing ourselves. It's a privilege to play for a club where you have the opportunity to make history.

"Yes, it's a lot of pressure, but pressure I'm happy to have."

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Wayne Rooney and Patrice Evra were not risked for United’s 1-0 win over West Ham as Sir Alex wasn't prepared to chance their fitness.

Rooney has struggled with a hamstring injury since hobbling off against Wigan on 14 January, while Evra injured his ankle against Chelsea three days previously.

“They had little setbacks in training,” Sir Alex told MUTV. “They didn’t do a lot last week, which was partly to do with the weather. They needed another three or four days’ training before we could start considering them.

“I think the important thing about having injuries with the squad we’ve got, you don’t take chances. It proves fatal. We weren’t prepared to take a chance with them.”

The pair could now make their return to action next Sunday in the FA Cup fifth round tie against Derby County at Pride Park. Their absence mattered little at the weekend, however, as United won a hard-fought game against the Hammers thanks to Ryan Giggs’ solo effort in the second half. The win catapulted United back to the top of the table with a game in hand and a two-point advantage over second-placed Liverpool and seven points above Chelsea.

That could be extended to five and ten points respectively with a win in the game in hand against Fulham on 18 February. But Sir Alex isn’t presumptive of victory, nor of its effects on United’s rivals. "It’s going to be difficult for Chelsea, that’s fair to say,” he added.

"But we’re not counting our chickens because this game can come back to bite you. What we said after the [West Ham] game is that it was a fantastic performance and great result. But this is the time to kick on and show what we are here at Manchester United.”

Ryan Giggs and his Manchester United team-mates may still believe they can win teh quadruple!

United are still in it to win it in the FA Cup and Champions league, whilst they top the Premier League adn are in the final of the Carling Cup!

"Hopefully the latest injuries won't have too much of an impact because we've also got the likes of Patrice, Wayne, Wes and Rio all coming back. So that should help," said Ryan.

"People have been talking about us winning all four trophies, but as players we just get on with things. We've got as far as we can in the League Cup now and we'll look forward to the final when it comes round. Next it's the FA Cup, then it's back to the league.

"We've just got to perform well in every game and make sure we have the right attitude and concentration going into whatever competition we're playing in."

United boss Sir Alex Ferguson will have been frustrated by his side's wastefulness, with Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo guilty of throwing away obvious openings.

It was United who had the first opportunity when Arsenal keeper Almunia inexplicably picked up a backpass from Mikael Silvestre inside the first two minutes. Arsenal were relieved when Anderson's free-kick was half-cleared and Michael Carrick turned the loose ball wide.

Rooney missed an even better chance for United after 17 minutes, carelessly lofting an inviting ball from Ronaldo over the top when it seemed certain he would score.

Arsenal took full advantage of the reprieve to take the lead five minutes later, when Nasri's shot took a crucial deflection off Neville and wrong-footed Edwin van der Sar. It was a wonderfully open game but Arsenal were playing like a team stung by recent criticism and the sight of old rivals United had only inspired them further.

Fabregas had a shot deflected just wide but United were threatening themselves and Almunia needed to save well from Ji-Sung Park.

If there was a frustration for Arsenal, it would have been that the crucial second goal had eluded them, despite their dominance. They did not have to wait long to get it as Nasri doubled their advantage three minutes after the restart. Fabregas was at the centre of affairs again, punishing United for failing to pick up Nasri when he threaded through a perfect pass for the France midfield man to beat Van der Sar with an emphatic finish.

United, uncharacteristically, were lacking a cutting edge and wasted a perfect opportunity to grasp at a lifeline immediately after Arsenal's goal. Park found Ronaldo unmarked at the far post but he dragged his shot across the face of goal with only Almunia to beat.

Almunia then required lengthy treatment after an accidental clash with Carrick as United refused to give up on the belief that they could get back into an enthralling encounter. He carried on but was clearly in discomfort and was replaced by Lukasz Fabianski with 12 minutes left.

United also replaced Rooney with Carlos Tevez and Anderson with Ryan Giggs in what was clearly a last throw of the dice by Ferguson as time ran out. Rafael, who had replaced Neville in the 63rd minute, pulled one back in the final minute with a spectacular left-foot volley from the edge of the box after Arsenal failed to clear a Giggs cross.

PATRICE Evra is set to make his 100th start for United against Celtic.

He has gone 67 matches without a goal. His senior career has not been blessed with strikes having scored just once in 36 matches for Nice and once in 136 for Monaco.

But with Nemanja Vidic, Darren Fletcher and Michael Carrick all weighing in from defence and midfield in the last three matches to help out the forwards, Evra wants to add his contribution. "I need to continue to defend well, but this season I really want to score more goals," said the 27-year-old, signed from Monaco in 2006. "I know I have the ability, but so far I haven't been able to do that regularly at United.

"I am a defender first, and I need to do my job well, but I hope I will get the opportunity to create and score more goals. It is not always easy to get the perfect balance. If you defend well in one game people say: 'Ah but he didn't support in attack', and if you go forward some might say, 'Yes, but he didn't defend well.'

"I love going forward, but now I really enjoy defending and I get as much satisfaction out of a good tackle as I do if I create or score a goal."

"I want to win more trophies and I know I am at the right club to do that."

Ronaldo might be benched against Celtic as Carlos Tevez and Anderson are back in contention after missing Saturday's 4-0 win over West Bromwich Albion.

Paul Scholes, Owen Hargreaves and Michael Carrick miss out of course and they are joined in the stands by Patrice Evra who was taken off with a hamstring injury against West Brom and won't be risked tomorrow night.

He should be OK for Saturday,' Fergie said, referring to Saturday's trip to Goodison Park. The manager also confirmed that he was considering relegating Ronaldo to the bench as he's still not at full fitness and has played a lot of games in recent weeks.

If he won't start then Nani is likely to take his place in the side. Anderson and Carlos Tevez are likely to be handed starts after missing Saturday's win because they arrived back very late from international duty.

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Former Manchester United fullback Paul Parker admits he's a big fan of Patrice Evra.

“Some questioned whether he was going to be strong enough to cope in England when he first arrived,” Parker told manutd.com. “But, in my opinion, he’s the most improved player at Old Trafford in the last two years. It’s taken United a while to find someone of the quality of Denis Irwin to fill that left-back spot, but Evra has made it his own.

“Sir Alex has tried him on the wing a few times and there’s no doubt he can do a job there,” says Parker. “But I think he’s better running onto the ball from a deeper area. He’s great on the overlap and makes intelligent runs that drag defenders wide, opening up the space inside for Ronaldo and Nani to exploit. That kind of unselfish play is why so many wingers find him so easy to play with.”

So is he the best around? “The likes of Gael Clichy and Ashley Cole are certainly up there,” admits Parker, “but I don’t think there is a better left-back in the Premier League than Evra. He’s a class apart.”