Young Explains Impact Of Early Kick-offs

Ashley Young believes every player adapts differently to playing early in the day as Manchester United prepare to face Middlesbrough at noon on Sunday.  

Less than 72 hours after the Europa League tie against FC Rostov at Old Trafford, the Reds continue a busy week by travelling to the Riverside Stadium to take on Boro in the Premier League, with kick-off at 12:00 GMT.

When asked how early matches can impact on players amid a short turnaround, Young told MUTV: “I think it’s different for each individual. Some players like playing early, some players don’t.

“If we are playing early, you’ve got to factor in the travelling we’ve had since last week. It’s just been travelling non-stop. I think we’ve been in more hotels than we’ve been at home.

"It’s one of those things, you’ve just got to get your head around it and prepare again in the right ways. When you’re kicking off at 12:00, you’ve got to be mentally prepared at the start of the game and make sure you’re right.

"I’m more than confident that we’ll go into the game full of confidence and looking to take three points up there."

With the game moved to lunchtime to accommodate live television coverage in the UK, it means the Reds will have a different pre-match schedule to contend with.

“Breakfast will be put on earlier and [the] pre-match [routine] will be earlier,” explains Young. “Things just get shuffled around because of the kick-off being earlier. It’s just about the mental preparation, I think, for different individual players to make sure you’re ready and prepared to kick off at midday.”

The Reds could be in for a tough test against managerless Boro, who parted company with head coach Aitor Karanka on Thursday and are battling to avoid an immediate return to the Championship.
  
But Young was keen to reiterate every game is tough, regardless of the opponents or circumstances, and is hopeful the Reds can make the home fans quiet on Teesside from the outset.

“I think it’s a challenge whatever team you face in the Premier League. Whatever game it is, whether they are at the top or down at the bottom, every team is fighting to get points and Middlesbrough are going to be no different,” he said.

“Obviously, they’ll be at home and the crowd will get behind them but we want to silence them early and silence the crowd. Hopefully the crowd will get on their back. We’ve got to concentrate on ourselves and make sure we’re right and we’re prepared and look to go out there to get three points.

“It’s not an easy journey to go to Middlesbrough. It’s not going to be an easy game, especially when you kick-off early, you’ve got to be right.”

The Reds needed a dramatic comeback to claim three points the last time the sides met, with Anthony Martial and Paul Pogba scoring in the final five minutes to give United a vital 2-1 victory at Old Trafford on New Year’s Eve.

Boro, who lie second from bottom in the table, have scored the fewest number of goals (19) in the top-flight this season heading into this weekend but boast the best defence in the bottom half, conceding only 30 goals from 27 games.

Young expects it will be difficult for the Reds to break down Middlesbrough’s solid rearguard but is confident his team will have a plan to combat this.  

"When a team defend well in numbers and I’m sure they’re going to get men behind the ball, it’s down to us to break them down when we can," he added. "We face that pretty much every week when teams come and sit behind the ball.

“It’s just whether we can break them down and I’m sure we’ll be working on it this week, how to break them down, bring one or two of their players out of their shape and that’s what we need to capitalise on.”

The sixth-placed Reds currently lie six points adrift of a Champions League qualification spot but know that points will be dropped later on Sunday when the teams in the Premier League table's third and fourth positions face each other, with Manchester City hosting Liverpool at the Etihad Stadium.
 
With 12 league games still remaining, Young feels the race for the top four will go right down to the wire.  

“I think it’s going to go all the way to the end,” the no.18 stated. “There are still so many games to play, so many points to pick up, so we’ve just got to take each game as it comes and hopefully we can get three points and walk away with no injuries and go into the international break after that.”