Michael Carrick believes it is time Manchester United rediscovered their ruthless streak, as they bid to regain the English Premier League title.
Alex Ferguson's side visit strugglers Reading today looking to maintain their one-point advantage over rivals and defending champions Manchester City at the top of the table.
United had conceded the first goal in their previous five games before Wednesday's 1-0 win over West Ham when it took striker Robin van Persie just 33 seconds to find the back of the net.
But United's failure to add a second goal ensured a nervous finish for the record 19-times league winners.
"We had a spell, a year or two ago, when we were starting games really well and killing teams off early," United and England midfielder Carrick said. "We want to get back to that. We want to make it that way in the games that are to come because going a goal down has made things a lot harder for us than they should have been," he added.
"Keeping a clean sheet gives us something to build on in the future, but the performance needs to be better," he insisted. "But we're still in a good position at the top of the league. We are quite satisfied."