Andreas: I’m feeling fitter than ever

Andreas Pereira says he is feeling in peak physical condition ahead of Manchester United’s Premier League clash against Southampton this weekend.

The Academy product has established himself as a vital member of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s first-team squad and played a key role in the opening-day victory against Chelsea earlier this month.

After occupying a place on the bench in our subsequent two Premier League games, coming on late in the draw at Wolves, Andreas has revealed he is in a good frame of mind and hopes to reclaim a starting berth in the encounter on the south coast.

“I’m very confident and I’m feeling stronger and fitter than ever in training and in games,” the 23-year-old told MUTV.

“The first game that I played [against Chelsea], I felt very confident and was very happy that I could help with the assist in the win. I’m just ready to go again, wherever the manager puts me in.”

After enjoying a good start to the season - with the 4-0 victory over Chelsea - the Reds have failed to win the last two games, despite dominating against Wolverhampton Wanderers and Crystal Palace.

While Andreas knows how important it is to pick up three points at St Mary’s, he believes the wins will come if United continue to demonstrate the same attacking intent as we have in the last two games, as we managed over 65-per cent possession in both and mustered more than 30 shots across the two matches.

“We’ve played some really good football and showed what we’re about,” he said. “We were a bit unlucky with the results in the second and third games, I think, but we have to keep going, keep doing the things we are doing and keep believing.

“In the second and third game, we didn’t get the result we wanted and that we deserved because we had a lot of shots and a lot of possession, but, sometimes, you have to get the details right. It’s just a few things you need to get right and the goals will come. We have to keep calm and the results will come, for sure.

“It was very frustrating [against Palace] because we got it back to 1-1 and then, to give it away in the last second, hurts even more than just losing 1-0. We are working on it and I’m sure the results will come.”

Andreas and his team-mates will be hoping for an upturn in fortunes when we take on Southampton, opponents the no.15 knows well after he netted our Goal of the Season in the 3-2 victory against the Saints last term.

“It was a really special strike and my highlight, until now, at United,” Andreas said about the goal. “Hopefully I can score a lot more goals but, yes, that will always stay in my mind.

“Southampton had a very tough game earlier this season against Liverpool,” he added. “They showed they are not a team that you can just dominate against and win the game, they’re going to have a go against us and at they’re on their home ground so it’s going to be a difficult game.

“But we need to show that we have learned from the last two games we played and, if we keep the details right, we should get the right result.”