Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer says their improvement hasn't come as a surprise given their disrupted start to the season.
United face Aston Villa tonight sitting in second place.
Solskjaer told manutd.com: "Well we had a difficult start to the season with the late arrival of some players and the start, that we missed the first game and we missed the pre-season.
"And I think we have shown after the second international break, the one in October, that we have regrouped, come together, we are getting fitter, stronger, the squad is getting better and we just have to take one game at a time, move up the table and improve as a team. But we have finished the year strong.
"I think we have done well since the beginning of February, or end of January, and we have proven to ourselves that we can be consistent over a longer period."
Solskjaer continued: "The good thing about this group is that some of them have won before so they are not going to get too far ahead of themselves. We know that the only way to do it is to take one game at a time. I know that is quite a boring statement, but that is the good thing about this group - they are not going to think we have cracked it because in any game in this league, you have got to be at it and that's why we have a big, strong squad."
