Manchester United defender Nemanja Vidic has stressed the importance of his side sticking together through their poor form.

United have lost four of their five matches so far in 2014, most recently falling to a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Chelsea on Sunday, a result that Vidic admitted knocked his team out of the title race.

The Serb does not believe that the scoreline was an accurate representation of how the match went, but admits that they weren't good enough in attack or in defence.

"It's important we stick together and work hard for each other. If we do that, I think we can turn things around. If you look at the whole game, I don't think we played too badly. I don't think losing three goals really tells the story. We lost two goals from set pieces and one deflection. Apart from that they didn't create too many chances," The Guardian quotes Vidic as saying.

"They didn't have many shots on target but scored three times. It's disappointing. I don't think we were clinical enough in their box and we didn't defend well enough in ours. We didn't give them many chances but everything they had they took. They punished us. It's just small things. Small details this season are making big differences and changing games.

"We just have to stay positive and keep fighting to be in amongst the top teams at the end of the season. Hopefully, with a bit of luck, we'll have better days. We were good for long periods, but it was one of those days that turned out badly for us."

Vidic was sent off late in the match for a tackle on Chelsea's Eden Hazard.