Most of United's nine Barclays Premier League title triumphs under Sir Alex Ferguson have been based on the type of flair and entertainment Roman Abramovich craves at Chelsea.

While those ideals have not been abandoned by Ferguson and his team, the platform for their current five-match winning streak has been provided by the type of defensive solidity that would make Jose Mourinho proud.

Yesterday's shutout of Chelsea at Old Trafford completed a run of five successive clean sheets.

Manchester City's Geovanni is the last person to score against United, with a deflected effort which shot past Edwin van der Sar eight and a half hours of match time ago.

It represents United's best run for over two years, and has seen them rise from second bottom prior to the home win over Tottenham to second from the top, below only Arsenal.

And with an array of attacking talent including Wayne Rooney, Louis Saha, Carlos Tevez and Cristiano Ronaldo to call on, United do not expect it to be too long before they start hitting the net with greater regularity than they are at present.

However, Carrick thinks it is what happens at the back that will determine how successful Ferguson's team are in their quest for honours.

"Five clean sheets on the trot is a great achievement," he said.

"I know we play good football with plenty of flair but a lot of our game is based on how we defend.

"The back four and Edwin van der Sar have had a lot of credit lately and rightly so.

"But right from the front, I think everyone is doing their job defensively really well. We are very solid and we want to continue that because we will always create chances with the forward players we have."

Having condemned Chelsea to a second defeat in three games - a run which has seen them pick up only one point - the table certainly looks far rosier than it did a month ago.

Ironically, United have not quite managed to reproduce the same flowing form they produced in those early days, when results went so badly wrong.

But even as they were staring up unhappily from the foot of the table, Carrick confirmed there was no hint of desperation within the Old Trafford ranks.

"It was so early in the season, we just felt it was important to keep on doing what we had been," he said.

"We were playing well enough, we just had to wait until the results turned around.

"We got on to a run of 1-0s and it looked like it was going to be the same against Chelsea. But we finally got another one, so we will take that and move on."

Carrick's sentiments were echoed by stand-in skipper Ryan Giggs, one of a host of senior United men who will be rested for Wednesday's Carling Cup clash with Coca-Cola Championship high-flyers Coventry at Old Trafford.

Giggs has been involved in every title win under Ferguson and knows extended unbeaten stretches will be required if United are to get the 10th championship the veteran Welshman craves.

"We are always capable of going on a run and hopefully we are in the middle of a 10 or 12-game run now," he said.

"To do well in this league what you need is consistency, both against the so-called lesser teams and the big ones. Obviously, you want to do well against the big teams. That can prove important at the end of the season.

"Chelsea is a big game for us and thankfully, we got the result we wanted."