Valencia: Nobody is giving up on the top four

Manchester United captain Antonio Valencia says nobody at the club is giving up on the pursuit of a top-four place in the Premier League.

The Reds may have Emirates FA Cup and Champions League ambitions as well in 2019 but, ahead of the home game with Huddersfield Town on Boxing Day, Valencia has stressed the need to go on a winning run in order to get closer to the leading sides in the table.

”Absolutely,” he replied, when asked by MUTV if the top-four scrap remains alive, prior to Saturday's 5-1 win over Cardiff City.

“Nobody is giving up at all. You know there is half a season left to play so it’s all about working hard, battling and playing well.

”We know we have got the quality within the squad to be able to do that. It is all about being focused and the aim is still to get into those top four places. We also want to go as far as we can in the Champions League – why not get to the final? Why not try to win the two cup competitions we are still involved in?”

Huddersfield are fighting for their lives towards the bottom but the fact the festive fixture is at home is of a benefit to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side.

”I think it is good,” explained Valencia. “The main thing is to get everyone together at Old Trafford after Christmas and it is a great fact we don’t have to travel as it’s on our doorstep. Playing in front of our fans is always a special occasion.

”We are getting the chance to make them happy and hopefully put any recent bad results behind us to get into good form again. We need to start putting a string of wins together and putting in a good performance to make the fans happy.”

The experienced right-back uploaded a picture of his gashed shin to social media after a bruising challenge with Toni Lato during this month's Champions League encounter against Valencia.

The Reds defender was shown a yellow card but sustained a nasty injury in the incident and explained the motives behind his decision to share the image. “I don’t like to put photos of injuries out but I posted it on Instagram because I was getting a bit of stick from the Valencia fans due to an incident during the game.

”The truth is I didn’t see the guy coming and these things happen in football. It was a coming together and I wanted to show I was hurt as well. Nobody goes out with the intention of complaining or getting hurt but these things happen in football.

“Matches are tough – Huddersfield will be tough and there will be collisions and tackles. It’s all part and parcel of the game.”