Sir Alex Ferguson saluted his players' appetite and tenacity after the Reds rescued a vital point at Ewood Park to take them three points clear of Chelsea.

Carlos Tevez headed home in the 88th minute to send the 7,000-strong United fans at Ewood Park wild.

Sir Alex was relieved to see the Argentine pop up in the right place at the right time and hailed his squad's never-say-die attitude.

"The tenacity and passion we showed to win the game was fantastic. We played like champions and I'm very proud of the players," he told MUTV.

"We'd rather have had the three points and I think we deserved them, but we've rescued a point yet again with another late goal from Carlos Tevez. So that's very positive.

"I think we could have had three penalities, but we're getting breaks against us at the moment," added the United boss. "We can't go on about those decisions though or the fact that Brad Friedel had a fantastic game.

"We had enough chances to win it. We dominated the second half and were very unlucky not to win."

The Reds can clinch the title with victory at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, while a draw or defeat would still keep them top of the pile with two games left.

"The Chelsea game is massive one," insisted Sir Alex. "I'm sure it'll be a fantastic match and we're going there to win."