Anders: Morale Is Sky High

Anders Lindegaard believes team spirit inside the Manchester United dressing room is at a two-year high following a fruitful festive campaign.

The Reds earned an admirable 10 points from a possible 12 during the busy Christmas calendar, even moving seven points clear of Manchester City as the Barclays Premier League title race heads into the New Year.

With morale boosted, Lindegaard says “it’s a joy coming into work” and praised his teammates’ ability to cope with the psychological challenges posed by a run of four matches in 10 days.

“The team spirit is as high as I can remember since I came here [in December 2010],” Anders told MUTV. “We have done tremendously well over the Christmas period and picked up some great results, only dropping points against Swansea - which was a game that we should have won in my opinion.

“We have done brilliantly and you can see that in the team spirit as well, people are happy and there’s a good, friendly and funny atmosphere in the locker room. It’s a joy coming into work at the moment.

“Training is not hard work during the Christmas period because we have so many games. We just come in and prepare for the next game and then we go again. The games are obviously very hard, but the training in itself is not as hard as during other parts of the year.

“Mentally it’s a very hard period and I think the Christmas programme this year has been tougher than others while I’ve been at United. But it’s a good feeling to come out after New Year's Day with a lot of good results, a good atmosphere and sitting at the top of the table. We can now focus on the next games and getting more good results.”

Having previously plied his trade in Denmark for Odense BK and more recently Norwegian side Aalesund, Lindegaard was accustomed to enjoying a winter break on the continent before moving to Old Trafford and the Barclays Premier League where festive football is craved and celebrated.

However, while his former teammates are enjoying an extensive rest, United’s charismatic goalkeeper insists he is not jealous and knows exactly where he’d rather be.

“It is almost not comparable. In Denmark where I played, and also in Norway, you have five or six weeks of vacation and the Danish players are probably lying on a beach in Thailand right now.

“But this is where you want to be, it’s the best country to play football in and it is all part of the fun of being a footballer in England.”