Herrera: I Can Hit Double Figures This Season

Ander Herrera shares the belief of former Manchester United captain Bryan Robson that he can reach double figures in the goalscoring stakes this season.

The Spanish midfielder notched his second strike of the campaign with a powerful penalty in last weekend's win over Liverpool, having previously found the net in the Champions League play-off second leg against Club Brugge. It means he's already registered a quarter of last term's tally in his opening six games of 2015/16.

"Last season, I scored eight and I want to keep growing, I want to keep scoring for the team," Herrera told MUTV. "When you are a midfielder and you score a good number of goals, I think it makes you even better. It's very important for midfielders so I will try to do it.

"I have to say thank you to Bryan Robson if he thinks I can score 12 to 15 goals, it means he believes in me. I believe also in myself. I think I can achieve that number of goals but it is not so easy.

"I think I have to be close to the situations to score, that is what I have to do. If I score, it's much better and I will be happier but the most important thing is to be ready to score; that is what the manager wants from me. We don't want to give the whole responsibility for scoring goals to Wayne or Martial or Memphis, to the strikers. Everyone has to help."

Only three United players scored more goals than Herrera in 2014/15 - Wayne Rooney (14), Juan Mata (10) and Robin van Persie (10) - and the Dutchman was decisively on target twice when the Reds triumphed 2-1 at St Mary's, this Sunday's destination in the Barclays Premier League.

Ander admitted on MUTV: "I remember from last season, both games against Southampton were a little bit weird, a little bit strange, because away, we didn't deserve to win but we won. At home, we didn't deserve to lose but we lost.

"Both games against them were very tough so we have to be ready for another one. They are confident with the ball and try to play but they have Graziano Pelle up front and can also play it long. He holds the ball up for the team so they have different options to play.

"Of course, they have the quality as they finished seventh last season and I always say we have to respect our opponents. But if we are as good as we can be, we have to beat them. If we are at a good level, we always have chances to win. We are Manchester United and we have to show it."