Fletcher: Solidarity Is Key

Darren Fletcher believes the players must continue to stick together as Manchester United look to build on the 2-0 victory over Swansea City.

The champions have come in for heavy criticism in 2014 after suffering three consecutive defeats in all competitions. That losing streak was ended on Saturday with a much-improved performance and win over the Swans, which Fletcher was delighted by.

However, when asked if such a display should be considered a direct riposte to United’s critics, the experienced campaigner was hesitant to agree and explained that there is plenty of work to be done yet.

“I don’t know if it was an answer. We have got to go and do a lot more to give people an answer,” Darren told MUTV. “We look to ourselves and we believe in ourselves as a team. We came together today and got a good result but it is no good doing it just once, we have got to do it in a combination of results and go on a winning run.

“People have been speaking a lot about Manchester United and they’ve been waiting for this opportunity for a long time. They seem to be enjoying it. But all we can do is stick together as a team, as staff, as management and as fans. The fans were fantastic again with the support they give to the manager, the players and everyone else. We will stick together and I'm sure we'll be fine.”

After a first half of few meaningful chances, United turned up the heat after the break and deservedly took the lead on 47 minutes through Antonio Valencia’s back-post strike, before Danny Welbeck wrapped up the victory with an expertly flicked finish just before the hour-mark.

Thereafter the Reds had several clear-cut chances to enhance that lead and improve the goals tally, most notably when Chris Smalling blazed over from close-range prior to Shinji Kagawa’s shot being cleared off the line moments later. Being more clinical in front of goal is something, Fletcher says, the players must continue to work on.

“That was spoken about at the end of the game," he revealed. "We have to reiterate that we can’t just be giving up chances like that, we really having to finish teams off by scoring three, four or five goals if we get the opportunity.

“Although we won 2-0 and we are happy, that is a performance and a level that we should be hitting every week so we are not getting too carried away. We have got to look to that and keep that level of performance next week against Chelsea.”