Manchester United have decided to to re-schedule their Premier League match with Aston Villa to April 5 instead.

The move has been interpreted as a sign that Sir Alex Ferguson has become so concerned by his side's mini-slump in the league that he has cancelled plans to prioritize progress in the Champions League.

According to The Guardian, 'When the match was originally chosen for live television United announced it would automatically revert to a Saturday kick-off if they were drawn to play in the Champions League.' However, a statement released on United's official website yesterday declared: 'It was previously thought, and advertised, that the Villa match would be brought forward to the Saturday if United's Champions League tie fell on Tuesday. However, we can now confirm that the games will be played a little more than 48 hours apart.'

By facing Villa on the Sunday, United will now have just 50 hours of recovery time before they face Porto in the first-leg of their Champions League quarter-final. It is the sort of fixture pile-up that Ferguson would normally be determined to avoid, and it is understood that his decision to snub Sky Sports following the recent 4-1 defeat to Liverpool was a form of protest against that match being played on the Saturday lunchtime after United had faced Inter Milan on the previous Wednesday night.

But The Guardian claims that, following back-to-back defeats, Ferguson has become so alarmed at United's lead at the top of the table being drastically cut by Liverpool that 'the Scot has drastically altered his thinking. Ferguson publicly declared last month that the Champions League was his "priority" but he has now decided it is more important that those United players who will be away on international duty over the next week and a half have an extra day to prepare for the visit of Martin O'Neill's side.'