Vidic's Rallying Call To United Squad

Nemanja Vidic has called on Manchester United's players to show character and take responsibility as the season reaches its business end.

With the EFL Cup already in the bag, the former Reds captain feels the club can kick on in the Europa League and continue the current good form to sustain a top-four challenge in the Premier League.

United remain just four points adrift of fourth place, with two games in hand, and are into the quarter-finals of the Europa League - and Vidic, who won 15 trophies with the Reds during his eight-year spell before leaving in 2014, feels the players must be ready for the busy run-in.

“I think in the last stage of the season you need characters on the pitch,” he told ManUtd.com. “You need players who are able to take responsibility and, of course, you need to win matches.

“It’s the most important time of the year and sometimes players are tired because there are so many matches. From the first day you start the season you say ‘I have to win the match’ then the second game comes and you say ‘I have to win the match’ then it’s the third and fourth and it’s the same.

“You have nine months of football and every match is important so when you come to this last stage, you need players who are willing to go on the pitch and give their best to achieve what is the target for the club.”

Vidic, who represented United at the recent Tour 2017 launch, is realistic, however, when assessing the current side this season and explained it will continue to take time for the team to gel under Reds boss Jose Mourinho.

He said: “At this moment, we are not in the position we would like to be of course but we are fighting for the Champions League and with the win at Middlesbrough we are a step closer.

“We have two games at home now, against Everton and West Brom and if we win those we have a big chance to be in the top three or top four teams and that’s realistic at the moment. Before the season, you always think United should compete for the title but to be fair it is not easy.

“Mourinho came this year and brought in four players, but to build a winning team you need time, six months is not enough but I do believe the team is growing. He has been in charge of big teams and won trophies in different countries, he knows what he is doing and I am looking forward to the future."

Despite leaving the club in 2014, the Serbian still watches the Reds with the same passion with which he played and with a little improvement in front of goal he feels positive times are ahead.

“Of course the fans they want to see more than moving in the right direction, the same as me, but I genuinely believe that the players really have potential to improve in this aspect of the game [turning draws into wins] and if you improve this aspect of the game we will not have a problem to compete for the title.

“The only thing I think that is missing this season is to be clinical in the last third of the field.”

With the League Cup also being the first trophy he won with the Reds back in 2006, Vidic also stressed the importance of the recent EFL Cup triumph for the developing team.

“I think for a team that didn’t win many trophies like this current one every trophy is important. You need to get the feeling of winning something and when that happens the players come together and feel more confident that they can do it again," he added.

“We have a lot of young players and it’s normal that they will have lots of ups and downs, but if you want to compete for the trophies we need consistency, and of course the trophy they won this season will give them confidence and belief they can win more.”