Van der Sar tight-lipped on future

Edwin van der Sar will decide in December whether to extend his Manchester United career.

The veteran Dutchman signed a one-year deal at a similar point 12 months ago, which is due to expire next summer. At that point, Van der Sar will be 37, and with his international future also up in the air after Euro 2008 he has some major decisions to make.

"We will decide in December what we are going to do, the same as last year," he said. "At the moment I want to get back playing and get back to the form I was in before."

Sir Alex Ferguson has indicated he would like the former Ajax star to remain at Old Trafford for another season, rating him as one of the best buys of his entire 20-year stint as manager.

For the moment, though, Van der Sar remains fully focused on finding his form again after a recent toe injury. And he sees no reason for making a quick decision.

Van der Sar should return for Saturday's Barclays Premier League clash at Aston Villa, when United will look to extend a six-match winning streak achieved without conceding a goal.

In fact, aside from the shock Carling Cup defeat to Coventry, it is 12 and a half hours since United's defence was last breached when Geovanni netted the only goal to seal a Manchester derby win for City on August 19.

It is a record Van der Sar is rightly proud of, although it does not yet match the best of his career.

"I once had nine clean sheets in a row in Holland," he said.

"It is important because when you look back, those 1-0 wins probably decide whether you are going to be a contender for the league or not. Hopefully we can keep it going, although I don't want to tempt fate by talking about it too much."