Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has admitted his job could be on the line if his side fail to win the Carling Cup today.

Ferguson will lead his side out at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium for the final against Wigan. United failed to win a trophy last season, are out of the Champions League and FA Cup and trail leaders Chelsea by 15 points in the Premiership.

So the Carling Cup is United's only realistic chance of silverware this season, and Ferguson told the Sunday Mirror: "When you are a manager, winning trophies is the only thing that keeps you in a job.

"When you go into the management game you don't expect to be a loser, you expect to be a winner.

"I have to take the long-term view as well, but going even a year is too long without a trophy for this club. Going more than a day without winning something is too long at Manchester United.

"That's the pressure we are under here and in that respect this game is vital to us."