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Sir Alex Ferguson believes faith will be the most important factor on Sunday - faith in his players to deliver United's tenth Barclays Premier League title.
The boss has been bemused by what some might call "mind games" with talk of Wigan players being wound up to play United while Bolton have been winding down ahead of their trip to Chelsea. But Sir Alex insists none of that really matters - all that counts now is that his players don't let themselves down after a season of "fantastic football."
"It doesn't matter what the Wigan players are saying or what the Chelsea players are saying. If we win our game, that's it," said Sir Alex at his pre-match press conference.
"You hope you get the breaks, you hope this, you hope that and you hope the next thing. You could wish for too many things. The important thing is to have trust in your players.
"I trust my players and I will let them get on with it.
"Their form this year has been terrific, they’ve played some fantastic football. They’ve excelled, they’ve done everything I could possibly ask from a squad."
When asked to pick out his turning points or campaign highlights, Sir Alex said, "There's no point looking back at games we've won or games we've lost, we are where we are."
Like his players, the manager is clearly in too positive a mood to have any regrets about the season so far or about decisions that could have spared United the necessity to match or
better Chelsea's result on Sunday. He took the opportunity to reiterate:
"Picking my team at Chelsea was based on the fact I wanted my team to get to the European Cup final. I think my players and this club deserves that chance. I was sitting there (before Chelsea) with three league games left and a semi-final second leg to play. Now we’re in the final and we’ve got one league game left.
"It will be a nailbiting Sunday for the fans, for the television viewers, but we’re in the right position. If we win our game, we win the league so it’s a great incentive for us.
"We go into the game with a great chance. We have a good form team with good players. We will also have a fantastic support on Sunday and that’s a big plus for us."
Sir Alex dismissed the notion that United's supporters could have an adverse effect by knowing the score at Stamford Bridge and transmitting their tension to the pitch.
“Fans are going to know what’s going on (at Chelsea) because they’ve got radios, they’ve got mobile phones. It’s normal.
"When we played Middlesbrough (in 1996) and Tottenham (1999), that was the situation too. And when we lost the league to Blackburn (1995), in the last game of season also, we knew exactly what the score was at Liverpool. So everyone’s aware but I don’t think that matters as much as concentrating on your own game.”
The boss has been bemused by what some might call "mind games" with talk of Wigan players being wound up to play United while Bolton have been winding down ahead of their trip to Chelsea. But Sir Alex insists none of that really matters - all that counts now is that his players don't let themselves down after a season of "fantastic football."
"It doesn't matter what the Wigan players are saying or what the Chelsea players are saying. If we win our game, that's it," said Sir Alex at his pre-match press conference.
"You hope you get the breaks, you hope this, you hope that and you hope the next thing. You could wish for too many things. The important thing is to have trust in your players.
"I trust my players and I will let them get on with it.
"Their form this year has been terrific, they’ve played some fantastic football. They’ve excelled, they’ve done everything I could possibly ask from a squad."
When asked to pick out his turning points or campaign highlights, Sir Alex said, "There's no point looking back at games we've won or games we've lost, we are where we are."
Like his players, the manager is clearly in too positive a mood to have any regrets about the season so far or about decisions that could have spared United the necessity to match or
better Chelsea's result on Sunday. He took the opportunity to reiterate:
"Picking my team at Chelsea was based on the fact I wanted my team to get to the European Cup final. I think my players and this club deserves that chance. I was sitting there (before Chelsea) with three league games left and a semi-final second leg to play. Now we’re in the final and we’ve got one league game left.
"It will be a nailbiting Sunday for the fans, for the television viewers, but we’re in the right position. If we win our game, we win the league so it’s a great incentive for us.
"We go into the game with a great chance. We have a good form team with good players. We will also have a fantastic support on Sunday and that’s a big plus for us."
Sir Alex dismissed the notion that United's supporters could have an adverse effect by knowing the score at Stamford Bridge and transmitting their tension to the pitch.
“Fans are going to know what’s going on (at Chelsea) because they’ve got radios, they’ve got mobile phones. It’s normal.
"When we played Middlesbrough (in 1996) and Tottenham (1999), that was the situation too. And when we lost the league to Blackburn (1995), in the last game of season also, we knew exactly what the score was at Liverpool. So everyone’s aware but I don’t think that matters as much as concentrating on your own game.”