• Mexican did not allow squandered chances to discourage him • Chicharito says he is determined to win a regular starting spot

Javier Hernández accepts he will never enjoy the perfect game, hence his refusal to let a couple of misses discourage him before he scored the goal that extended Manchester United's lead at the top of the Premier League to seven points.

With Wayne Rooney ruled out by injury and Danny Welbeck ill, Hernández started the Boxing Day match against Newcastle paired with Robin van Persie up front.

It looked like being a frustrating afternoon for the Mexican, who failed to convert two clear chances to score but his luck changed in the last minute when he beat the Newcastle offside trap to reach Michael Carrick's cross and seal a dramatic 4-3 victory with his 10th goal of the season.

Hernández knows he would not have had the confidence to convert that chance had he let those earlier failures bother him. "I didn't have those things in my mind," he said.

"You cannot afford to regret every chance you miss because if you do you will never be concentrated for the next opportunity. You are never going to play the perfect game. You will never score five goals from five opportunities.

"That is the beauty of football. The most important thing was the win because here there are no heroes. It doesn't matter if I score in the last minute or we score four goals. We won and Manchester City lost. That is very good news."

Hernández is having to be patient this season with Robin van Persie's signing making competition for places up front even more intense.

Periodically, there are rumours of interest in him from Real Madrid, which are bound to be attractive to an extent given his background. Yet, for now at least, the Mexico striker is content with his lot.

"Ask any player in the world and they will tell you they want to play every game," he said. "But the competition here is incredible. It is the biggest club in the world. You need to be aware there are five strikers who want to be part of the games. I have to prove, in one minute or 90, that I want to start."