Shaw: Win Vital Before Internationals

Manchester United defender Luke Shaw says there have been positive signs in the Reds’ play lately and insists only three points will do against Crystal Palace.

After claiming a well-earned draw against Chelsea at the end of last month, Louis van Gaal's ten men were unlucky to come away from the Etihad with nothing to show for an afternoon of endeavour and some impressive attacking play despite the numerical disadvantage after Chris Smalling was sent off before half time.

Shaw, one of the Reds’ star performers in recent weeks, says it’s important the team maintain a high level throughout every game and will be aiming to show that at Old Trafford on Saturday.

“I think we’re finding our feet now,” he told ManUtd.com and MUTV. "We’re all trying to gel together as a team and we’ve shown in games what we’re capable of. It’s now a matter of going through the whole game showing what we can do, not just the first half or the second half.

“I think everyone is seeing what kind of team we’re becoming and hopefully soon they’ll see that through the whole game and the results.

“Getting the win against Palace is huge. We need to start picking up points now, especially after the derby and with a break of two weeks until the next game. We need to come out on Saturday and show people how much we want it as we always do.

“We always go into matches full confidence because we know what we can do. We just have to make sure that what we do in training is taken onto the pitch.”

After injury ruled Shaw out of the opening few weeks of the season, the left-back has been a mainstay of United’s back four for the last five games. Unfortunately, injuries and suspensions have meant the personnel around him have been almost ever-changing.

“It’s not nice to pick up injuries and the main ones seem to be in our back four," he says. "It’s been switching week in, week out, but we all work hard in training so we know as a back four what we need to do.

“It’s changing with different players but we all know each other well and know what each other’s strengths are so we can all work together.”