Blind Grateful For Away Goal

Manchester United defender Daley Blind believes Henrikh Mkhitaryan's strike in the 1-1 draw against FC Rostov could prove vital, but insists there is still work to do in the Europa League tie.

The Reds emerged from the tricky trip to Russia with a precious away goal, courtesy of Mkhitaryan's 35th-minute effort, meaning Mourinho's men are effectively ahead in the battle to reach the quarter-finals.

Blind, who turned 27 on the day of the match, admits he wanted to celebrate his birthday with a win but feels a draw represents a good result going into next week's second leg at Old Trafford.

"It's a good job we scored an away goal but, of course, we wanted to finish the game 1-0," he told ManUtd.com at the Olimp-2 stadium. "They came back to 1-1 and then you can do two things: you can attack or you can be a bit smarter and know there's a second leg. We chose the second option.

"The game was unplayable [because of the conditions]. It was very bad, we couldn't play any balls to each other. I think it was an ugly game to watch. We have to finish it at home now - we have the away goal and we have the advantage. We have to make sure we do that. I wanted a win for my birthday but an away goal will do!

"It was a great finish from Micki. It was a good goal - good from Felli, good from Zlatan and Micki was there to finish. We have to move on and for the next game we're in a good position. We didn't underestimate them and we know what they're capable of in the home game. I'm sure we'll play on a better pitch, in better conditions, with all the crowd behind us. We have to finish it at home."

With important games coming thick and fast, attention now turns to Monday's Emirates FA Cup quarter-final against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, and Blind says the players are raring to go.

"We're looking forward to it," he added. "That's why we wanted to be in every competition, to play lots of games against good opponents and now Chelsea are next. We have to face them and give them everything we've got.

"Of course it will help [to have 6,000 fans with us]. We have a very big squad - we have to fight for every game. We're fit enough and everybody's ready, so let's go."