Antonio Valencia insists that Manchester United must continue to give it their all in the pursuit of the Premier League title, despite Manchester City now holding an 11-point lead at the top of the table.
Sunday's derby defeat to Pep Guardiola side leaves United trailing their city rivals by a huge 11 points, but the Ecuadorian insists that United cannot simply throw in the towel now and must keep pushing City all the way.
"We are Manchester United and it's our duty to keep going to represent the club and keep looking forward and try to close that gap as best we can," he explained.
"While ever there's a chance mathematically, we just keep fighting."
City's start to the season has seen them win 15 out of 16 games, the best start to a Premier League campaign ever recorded and the 'Citizens' could go one better on Wednesday night by setting the longest winning streak in Premier League history, with rock-bottom Swansea standing between them and the history books.
Nevertheless, Valencia is not giving up hope, citing his past experiences as proof that nothing is over until it is over.
"We know that 11 points is a big gap but I can think back to when Sir Alex Ferguson was manager and the gap was something like nine points and we ended up losing the title," he recalled.
"So we know that it's the Premier League, we know that everyone's capable of beating everyone else and it's just a case of keep fighting."