Manchester United 5 Birmingham City 0: Berbatov seen as crucial conduit for Red Devils' title challenge

John O'Shea believes the key to leaders Manchester United's title drive could boil down to giving the ball constantly to Dimitar Berbatov.

If Wayne Rooney is still struggling to find his best form in front of goal, the same cannot be said of Berbatov.

His third hat-trick of the season in Saturday's 5-0 mauling of Birmingham at Old Trafford emulated the feat of Ruud van Nistelrooy in the 2002-03 title-winning campaign.

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And with a little more luck, he could have become the first player to score five twice in a single season since the new league was formed in 1992.

Berbatov has now bagged 18 goals this season, his best tally since a club record 30.75m move from Tottenham in 2008.

"Dimitar is an amazing talent," said O'Shea. "We know if we get the supply line to him he will create things, either for himself or other players.

"Some of the passes he was laying off for Wayne and Nani were great. We just have to supply him because nine times out of 10 he will score."

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Not that Berbatov was on his own in ensuring United extended their unbeaten start to 22 games ahead of tomorrow's trip to Blackpool.

For a man who had been out since the end of November with a calf problem, O'Shea made a pretty fine return too.

It was the Irishman who flicked Ryan Giggs's second-minute corner towards Berbatov to give the hosts their flying start.

"It has been a frustrating time," he said. "I thought it was only going to be a week to 10 days. But I pushed it a bit too soon and did it again. I had to be more careful after that.

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"It is frustrating when you are missing games but I am delighted to be back."

O'Shea's presence gives Ferguson a useful option in a variety of positions and is probably one of the reasons why United's longest-serving manager has opted against entering the January transfer market.

Not that he has any need to on Saturday's evidence.

Apart from his goals, Berbatov's link play has been of a high standard. The teamwork with Rooney to set up Giggs's goal that effectively sealed victory before the break was impressive, as was Nani's drive that completed the scoring, even if the Portugal winger frustrated his team-mates with his growing number of attempts.

'Eventually' was Ferguson's one-word assessment of the wide-man's eighth goal of the season.

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It was enough to ensure United opened up a two-point lead at the top, with Arsenal now leading the chasing pack albeit having played a game more than the Red Devils.

Birmingham manager Alex McLeish insists there will be no hangover from the mauling when they tackle West Ham at

St Andrew's on Wednesday hoping to secure a Carling Cup final date with either Arsenal or Ipswich on February 27.

McLeish said: "People will say taking this drubbing will affect their confidence, but that is not the feeling I got from senior players in the dressing room. They were more angry than anything else."

Birmingham will go into Wednesday's tie trailing the Hammers 2-1.