Manchester United head coach Erik ten Hag has insisted that it is too soon to speak about a possible Premier League title challenge during the 2022-23 campaign.
The Red Devils made it five league victories in a row on Saturday afternoon, as they came from behind to record a 2-1 victory over Manchester City in the Manchester derby.
Jack Grealish sent the Citizens into the lead with a header, but Bruno Fernandes levelled the scores before Marcus Rashford won it for the hosts.
The result moved Man United to within six points of leaders Arsenal in the table, although the gap is now nine points, with the Gunners beating Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 in the North London derby on Sunday.
The 20-time English champions will visit Mikel Arteta's side in the league next weekend, but Ten Hag has played down any talk of a title challenge for the club at this stage of the campaign.
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"I don't think we can talk about titles in January," he told BT Sport. "We are not even halfway and there is a lot to come, I think, a lot of games but in our game as well, there is a lot to work on.
"We can achieve something in this season, I'm convinced about that but there is still a long way to go about to restore Manchester United back to where they belong. The project is not only this season. But, of course, I want to achieve something this season and approach it game by game.
"It's a step forward and the belief is back. We are in a good direction but there is still a lot to come. You've seen today that City are the best playing team in this league, with Arsenal - they are good as well, and we have to work out of possession, if we want to get a result.
"There has to be really good defending, which is what they did, but they still have the quality split moments you've seen today. One mistake and they score.
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"Fans may dream, but we are not. We have to keep our feet on the ground and face our game that we still have lots to improve. It can't happen after half-time that we lose so much control in the game.
"Getting down, it is unnecessary. We must follow the right rules and we must step up from the back like we did in the early moments and learn how we control such moments.
"This is also top football and the small details have a big impact and we have to keep working on that and improving on that.
"I think it's a process. We are making progress but there is still a long way to go. We are in the right direction and we are happy with this result, it's quite obvious, but also we need to see with our eyes that we invest a lot if we want to be successful. We have to improve much more."
Man United will be bidding to make it 10 wins in a row in all competitions when they travel to Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Wednesday night.
Matt Law
