Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has conceded that his side are not in contention for the Premier League title because of their lack of a prolific goalscorer.
Robin van Persie and Wayne Rooney have scored 10 and nine goals respectively in the top flight this season, while Radamel Falcao has notched just four strikes for the Red Devils.
Van Gaal feels that their lack of goals compared to that of Chelsea's Diego Costa and Manchester City's Sergio Aguero is one of the reasons why they have fallen behind the top two in the Premier League.
He told reporters: "It is true because I cannot deny it. Robin van Persie cannot deny it, Falcao cannot deny it and Rooney - but he is not playing there so much anymore.
"But we cannot deny that at this moment we don't have a striker who scores 20 goals in the season."
Van Gaal confirmed that Van Persie has been ruled out for the next few weeks with an ankle injury sustained in their defeat to Swansea City.
Simon Sinclair
