Shaw And Jones: Fans Have Vital Role To Play

Manchester United defender Luke Shaw says the Old Trafford faithful can play a big part in helping the team get back to winning ways against Sunderland.

The Reds went down 2-1 away to Swansea City last weekend when other results hardly helped United’s top-four aspirations. Louis van Gaal’s men slipped to fourth place and with just four points separating the teams in third and seventh spots, picking up maximum points in every game is now more vital than ever.

Earlier this week, Shaw and team-mate Phil Jones took time out from preparations for Saturday’s game to lend their support to the Manchester United Foundation’s Something To Chew On campaign at Manchester Health Academy. The programme covers football, fitness and nutrition and teaches pupils about the importance of eating healthily and leading a balanced lifestyle. After meeting youngsters involved in the project, the two defenders spoke to us about the meeting with Sunderland and stressed the important role the supporters can play in every game.

“We always get that extra push at home from the fans and they've also been amazing away from home as well,” Shaw told ManUtd.com.

“At home it's always different - when teams come to Old Trafford they can feel that atmosphere and it can be a scary place for other teams. It’s a big pitch and United have always been strong at home and won a lot of games here so that’s a very important factor as well. I always look forward to playing every game but we’re especially looking to make sure we win this one. We’ve been working hard this week and it's massively important that we get the victory on Saturday.”

Jones agreed: "You have to stick together and get back on the training pitch and prepare well. That’s what we've been doing this week. It's an important game for us. It won’t be easy, Sunderland are a tough team but we've done well at home recently and we need to bounce back from the defeat at the weekend. It’s never nice to lose a game. We thought we played reasonably well, especially in the second half, but this will be another difficult match for us and one we need to win.”

Jones and Shaw spoke fondly of this week’s community event with both insisting that lending support to the Foundation and meeting local youngsters is one of the most enjoyable parts of their job.

“Visits like this are really important and it’s great to put a smile on the kids’ faces,” said Shaw. “It’s great that the Foundation can help so many around Manchester and across the world as well."

“I think it’s important that we do this sort of thing and interact with the youngsters,” added Jones. “A programme like this [Something To Chew On] is very important as kids have to learn the right things to eat and these sessions and exercises help with living a healthy life. The younger they learn these lessons, the more likely it is they will take it on to their adult life.”