LONDON (Reuters) - Sir Alex Ferguson says his rebuilt Manchester United team now boast the ideal mix of youth and experience to hold Chelsea at bay once the Premier League title race reaches crunch time in the new year.

United hold an eight point lead over the champions, from a game more, and Ferguson said he could not remember being in such a strong position at this stage of the season.

"I won't be letting the players fall into the trap of thinking it's won because all we have done is given ourselves a foundation," he said on Monday. "The Premier League is not easy to win, there are many hurdles to navigate in the run in.

"To win the league you have to have great consistency, particularly around March and April and historically, we have done well at that time of the year.

"That will be the test for us. I am sure it will be ourselves and Chelsea but I am sure we will last the distance. We've got youth on our side but we've also got players with a lot of experience in big-game situations."

Asked about the comments of Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho, who on Sunday warned United to think again if they considered the title race over, he said: "We'd all be in trouble if we listened to Jose too much.

"All we have done is give ourselves a good foundation but I think it's the best position we have had before Christmas in my time."

Ferguson was speaking at the launch of the United Opus, a 37kg, £3,000 history of the club, in which he features highly having won eight league titles and the Champions League.

The Scot, who recently celebrated his 20th year at Old Trafford, said the criticism hurt two years ago when his team were struggling but that he had opted to avoid the quick fix and instead build for the long term when investing heavily in Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo.

"With those players we were talking about years ahead," he said. "Sometimes you have to take the hit and be a bit patient. They don't bring consistency but they bring you hope, bring you a dream."

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Ferguson had special praise for Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Gary Neville, players who have been a part of the club almost as long as he has and who have shared in his remarkable list of triumphs.

"Getting players to sign contracts these days is not easy but those guys don't want to be anywhere else."

Asked about Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon's recent comments about Chelsea becoming the biggest club in the world, Ferguson said: "There's nothing wrong with ambition. But there are a lot of big clubs out there and they've a mountain to climb to get above them."

Bobby Charlton, who like Ferguson has signed each of the 10,000 published copies of the Opus, gave similarly short shrift to the former United executive.

"Peter Kenyon can say what he likes but being a big club is about more than just winning a league title or two," said Charlton, who won the European Cup with United in 1968.

"When you come up against someone like Chelsea, who appear to have the finance to be able to buy anyone who is available, it is going to be difficult to finish above them.

"They just seem to collect players. We don't have the type of unlimited finance to be able to match that so to win the league this season would rate very highly indeed."