McTominay: I Want To Keep Improving

Manchester United starlet Scott McTominay believes he will only get better with more first-team action, after coming on as a substitute in the 4-1 beating of Burton Albion at Old Trafford on Wednesday night.

When the Lancaster-born midfielder entered the fray in place of former youth-team colleague Marcus Rashford in the 64th minute, it marked only his third senior outing for the Reds, and his first-ever appearance in the League Cup.

United were already 4-0 up when McTominay came on, however, the 20-year-old slotted seamlessly into the heart of the midfield and impressed with his calmness in the engine room, and his ability to pick a pass.

McTominay has skippered the Reserves this campaign although, having trained with the first team this season, he was keen to highlight how that experience has improved his game.

“You have to think quicker, you have to be quicker on the ball, and you have to move your feet quicker,” he told MUTV. “You just have to be switched on so much more than the Under-23s games.

“Eventually, you will just end up adapting to the scenarios within the game, moving your feet quicker, checking your shoulder and everything,” he added. “So it’s been great for me to be training in this kind of environment and I can only get better.”

The 6ft 4in midfielder also admitted now he has had a taste of first-team action, he is eager for more, and that he is constantly trying to make an impression on Jose Mourinho when given the opportunity.

“You always want minutes and that’s what you work for every day in training,” he said. “Training with the first-team group is a massive step up in standard and it’s brilliant for me to be training in this environment because you’re only going to get better with these guys coaching and playing with you every day.

“You just adapt to their standard and want to improve yourself as much as you can and be ready to play in games like this in the future.”

United have been drawn against Swansea City in the Carabao Cup fourth round and McTominay, who will be eyeing more minutes on the pitch, insists it will not be an easy encounter for the Reds.

“It will obviously be a difficult night for us but we need to go there with the same mentality as we did here,” he said. “We want to start the game well, get an early goal, and take it from there and just keep pushing. Hopefully we can do the same as we did last year and win the competition.”