ALEX FERGUSON'S body language and general demeanour yesterday was of a man completely in control of his own destiny, unlike his Chelsea counterpart Avram Grant, whose impromptu game of "yes/no" with the press on Thursday suggested he was starting to feel the strain.

"I'm not going to lose my temper at this stage of the season," the Manchester United manager remarked before a weekend in which his team hope to take another significant step towards moving within one of Liverpool's haul of 18 league titles.

A jovial Ferguson had more good news to report, revealing that Michael Carrick had joined Wes Brown and Rio Ferdinand in agreeing a new contract. It has been an expensive week for the Premier League leaders but a fruitful one, too, and Ferguson could be forgiven if he considered Grant's monosyllabic performance at Everton on Thursday as a clear sign that the pressure is getting to Chelsea's manager.

One intriguing change in Ferguson's personality over the last couple of seasons has been his reluctance to indulge in anything that could be perceived as mind games and, yet again, he bluntly refused to talk about Grant's stewardship at Stamford Bridge.

It was enough for Ferguson to portray his own team as being on a perfectly even keel going into the final exchanges of a season that has been notable for the club's spirit of togetherness, certainly compared with the occasionally poisonous events at Chelsea and Liverpool.

"I am not saying it gets easier over the years but I am accustomed to this stage of the season and exactly what it is like," said Ferguson. "That just comes from experience. There have been a lot of dramas over the years at this stage of the season and there could be a lot of drama this time, too. That is when I call on my experience and the fact I have knocked on that door 100 times, as have some of my players.

"On some occasions we have had great ends to the season. Other times we have not and have ended up with a bitter taste in our mouth. We went to West Ham on the final day of the 1995 season (when Blackburn Rovers won the league). We should have scored six but we didn't and we lost the league. Sometimes these things happen but at this stage of the season it is all about how you cope with it and showing your experience. The important thing is that we are relaxed."

United will go five points clear of Chelsea at the top of the table if they win at Ewood Park today and, though Ferguson has been at pains not to say anything overly presumptuous, he would be entitled, with only three games to go after that, to believe United are closing in on their 17th league championship.

Meanwhile, Arsene Wenger has imposed "an absolute deadline" of the end of this month on contract negotiations with his French midfielder Mathieu Flamini, after which Arsenal will reluctantly withdraw from talks. The manager will also review William Gallas's position as captain at the end of the current campaign.

A season which had promised so much disintegrated in a traumatic few days. Wenger conceded that elimination at the hands of Liverpool in the Champions League and subsequent defeat at Manchester United, which jettisoned Arsenal from the title race, had constituted "the lowest week since I have been here", but already he is forcing himself to focus on next term.

He remains hopeful he can retain Flamini despite interest from Juventus and Bayern Munich, who could lure the midfielder under the Bosman ruling.

Talks have dragged on since the turn of the year but Wenger is determined not to be held to ransom over the player's personal terms. "We are getting close to yes or no," he said. "He says he wants to stay here and I believe him, but as long as he has not signed he is free to sign where he wants."

Gallas's performance at Old Trafford was unconvincing. Asked whether he would retain the captaincy next term, Wenger replied: "I cannot answer that question at the moment. I want to analyse the season at the end."