Smalling: Reds Have Laid Down A Marker

Chris Smalling feels Manchester United have laid down a marker ahead of the three difficult away matches on the horizon.

The Reds go into the international break on a high following Sunday's terrific triumph against Arsenal but are not at home again until 4 December when David Moyes' former club Everton visit Old Trafford. Before then, the fixture list has thrown up trips to Cardiff City, Bayer Leverkusen and Tottenham.

Smalling excelled at right-back from the outset at the weekend and made one vital tackle to halt Olivier Giroud when an equaliser looked on the cards. With Rafael injured, he will aim to continue impressing his manager in the role.

"It was a massive win for us as it really laid down a marker," Smalling told ManUtd.com. "I'm just glad we showed that determination to get the three points. We were under pressure, especially in the last 20 or 30 minutes, because we really did press them in the first half and didn't give them any room. In the second half, we maybe did drop off a little bit and they caused a few problems but we stood firm.

"We defended as a whole team. We worked on pressing the wingers and strikers because, if you let a team like Arsenal start to play, they have got such gifted players. There were a few dangerous crosses towards the end but, overall, it was pretty good. I had my heart in my mouth a few times towards the end but it’s nice to dig in and keep a really good clean sheet.

"I was aware Manchester City were losing and Spurs had lost and those results gave us an even bigger incentive to capitalise on them and we did that."

Smalling believes it is important United continue to string together a run of positive results after nine matches unbeaten since the home loss to West Brom in September.

"Given how we started the season, we’re starting to show a bit more form and consistency," he stressed. "Come January and the New Year, we’ll be really flying and showing that consistency that United have become known for over many years. It’s starting to come together now.

"After the international break, we have got three tough away games but we can approach them with a lot of confidence. The run of results we are on at the minute show we can go anywhere and really start to displaying consistency."