Lindelof: The key to United's solid start

Manchester United defender Victor Lindelof believes the key to the Reds' solid start to the season is the competition for places and the additional energy within the team.

The Sweden international was part of an unchanged back-four at Wolves last Monday, starting alongside new recruit Harry Maguire in the middle of the defence.

Although Eric Bailly is injured, Phil Jones, Marcos Rojo, Chris Smalling and Axel Tuanzebe are competing for places and this is helping to ensure the Scandinavian remains on his toes.

“We have very good players in the squad and everyone wants to play,” Lindelof told MUTV in an exclusive interview. “In the first two games, we’ve been playing that back five [David De Gea, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Lindelof, Maguire and Luke Shaw] and have been performing well but it’s hard because you always have to perform well.

”It’s because there is always someone there who wants to play but that’s part of football. It’s very important for us and good for the team to have that.

“It’s very important for a team to have competition for places. If you don’t have that, then maybe you don’t push yourself to the next level. It’s what we’re doing every day right now and also what will take us to the next level, I think.”

Lindelof believes the hard work in pre-season is enabling United to display greater fitness levels and stamina in the Premier League.

The Reds ended both the 4-0 win against Chelsea and 1-1 draw at Wolves strongly, to suggest the players are capable of keeping up such intensity throughout matches.

“We worked very hard [in the summer] and you can see that in the games as well,” added our no.2. “We run much more now and have the capability of sprinting at high speed, even in the 80th or 90th minute. It’s very important to be able to do it in football. It’s been great.

”I think the fans are always behind us and we have been improving a lot. I reckon we can improve even more under Ole and the other staff. I think we work very hard for each other as a team and run a lot. I think that is what the fans want to see.“