Smalling: Shield Will Inspire Kids

Chris Smalling says Sunday’s Community Shield victory will act as a big motivation for the squad’s younger players to achieve more.

Wilfried Zaha and Adnan Januzaj were two of the players collecting their first ever trophy for the Reds following United’s 2-0 win over Wigan at Wembley.

The pair, who along with Jesse Lingard have impressed throughout the pre-season campaign, both played a part in the victory and Smalling says getting your hands on silverware only makes you more determined to make it a regular occurrence.

“Winning a trophy galvanises everyone and really helps you kick on,” the defender told ManUtd.com.

“Celebrating in the dressing room afterwards is always a fantastic feeling and it just makes you hungrier to do it again and again. It’s great for some of the new lads like Wilf and the younger players to experience the feeling – it really gets you in the zone and shows you what you’re fighting for.

“The likes of Wilf, Adnan and Jesse have done really well. The manager is the same as the previous manager when it comes to giving young players a chance. He gave them a good opportunity on tour and they’ve shown what they can do. It can be quite daunting when you go away with the first team for a few weeks but they’ve really bedded in and they’re great lads to get on with.

“We know there are four more trophies up for grabs this season and winning trophies is what this club is all about," he added. "We want to make sure we’re there at the end of the season competing for those honours.”