Mata: We Are In A Good Position

Manchester United’s Spanish forward Juan Mata believes the Reds are well placed in the Barclays Premier League table following a "difficult month" of fixtures.

United beat West Bromwich Albion 2-0 on Saturday to stay in fourth place and ensure the team head into the international break on a high, after playing seven games in the last 22 days.

Mata put the game against the Baggies to bed with a stoppage-time penalty and is happy with United’s progress but he was a little more cautious when probed on the possibility of a title challenge.

"Let’s see about that one, as there are still too many games until the end of the season [to judge]. We have to take it game by game." the Spaniard told MUTV. "It was a difficult month for us with some tough games, but I think we are still in the position to do it.

"Now we have to focus on the national team and then we have a lot of games in late November and December and we have to be at our best level."

Mata was also keen to praise the team’s excellent defensive form following United’s sixth clean sheet in seven matches. Although the likes of David De Gea, Chris Smalling and Daley Blind have all rightly received plenty of plaudits, Juan stressed the defensive shut-out against West Brom was very much a team effort.

"I think we are doing great defensively," he said. "David is obviously a world-class goalkeeper and we have great defenders who are doing really well, but the whole team is trying to defend compact and I think that is the key to winning games."