Bailly: Fans Give Us The Edge

Eric Bailly has called on the Manchester United fans to be the "12th man" when FC Rostov come to Old Trafford on Thursday night.

The Reds drew 1-1 in the Europa League Round of 16 first leg in Russia last week, without Bailly as he served his one-match suspension for the red card he received against Saint-Etienne.

After returning to the squad for the Emirates FA Cup tie at Chelsea on Monday, as an unused substitute, the Ivory Coast international is determined to help Jose Mourinho's men go all the way in the European competition. He reached the last four with Villarreal in 2015/16 and has designs on lifting the trophy and ensuring a place in next season's Champions League.

"At Old Trafford, the fans are like the '12th player'," he told MUTV. "They always give everything until they are hoarse to get behind us and give us a lift. It’s great that the tie will be decided at home and we can do our utmost to get the victory needed and send the fans home happy.

"It’s really important that we make the quarter-finals in this very difficult competition. All the players are aware of how much it means to make it through and so, when the day of the match comes around, we’ll be ready and prepared to ensure we start well.

"We always aim high in everything we do here. I managed to get to the semi-finals last year but that wasn’t enough. We didn’t win the cup or even get to the final itself so, for me now, it’s all about taking things a stage at a time. As I’ve said before, this competition brings plenty of surprises in a season so, first of all, we have to focus on getting through against Rostov and then we can think a little further ahead after that."