United man of the match Alex Bruce firmly believes Saturday's clash with Arsenal further whetted the appetite for a Premier League return.

While Bruce watched Leeds win 1-0 at Manchester United in the FA Cup third round last season, he was simply magnificent at the heart of the defence as United came within three minutes of repeating the same result at Arsenal on Saturday.

"The lads are making a habit of going to big grounds and big opponents and putting in a performance," said Alex.

"I watched them last year and on Saturday I was proud to be part of the team that did really well. I think people expect us to go to places like this and put in a good shift.

"Last season there was a dip in the league after the cup win, now we have to concentrate on the league because we want games like the one at Arsenal every week. The league is more important. I'm sure the club will make a bit from the cup, but our main aim is to get into the Premier League."

Bruce returned to the starting line-up in place of Neill Collins on Saturday and won plenty of plaudits for a terrific display alongside Andy O'Brien at the heart of the defence.

"When you come to a place like the Emirates you know you have to defend well and have a bit of rub of the green," he explained. "I think we had that, and we defended really well as a team.

"You can never think you have done enough. How many times do top teams equalise in the last minute? I think the referee was itching to give them something. Ben was unfortunate because apart from the one error when he pulled him a little bit, he was fantastic, particularly when you look that he started his first game in a long time on Tuesday."

Unwittingly, Bruce also found himself involved in a piece of post-match controversy when Arsenal substitute Theo Walcott admitted to taking a dive after a challenge from Bruce in the hope of winning a penalty.

Alex added: "I went to ground and I pulled my legs away and I said to him as the referee walked away: 'You dived there didn't you? And he said yes.' So, that was honesty from him."

United were backed by 8,500 fans at the Emirates and the scenes following Robert Snodgrass' penalty early in the second half were quite emotional.

"You looked at them and you want to play in games like that even more because of that," added Alex. "I'm really pleased we put in a performance that made them happy."