SOLSKJAER: ONE LAST PUSH ON SUNDAY

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer says his Manchester United players are ready and focused for one last big push in the Premier League season when travelling to Leicester City on Sunday.

The Reds know a draw would be enough to qualify for next season's Champions League, but a win would secure third place and victory is exactly what Ole insists his players will be aiming for.

The manager spoke to MUTV's Stewart Gardner ahead of the league finale and Ole said everyone is looking forward to the challenge ahead, with the squad fully concentrated on getting the job done...

Ole, first of all, how are you feeling about Sunday?
“I’m looking forward to it. We’ve been chasing this position for a long, long time. We’ve been wanting to get to this last game with an opportunity to finish the league strongly and go past Leicester. We’re there now going into the last game, we’ve done fantastic since the restart and we’ve given ourselves a good chance.”

On that point, at the start of the unbeaten run we were actually 14 points behind Leicester. Does that show how far we’ve come in 2020?
“I think it shows how well the boys have played and you can say how far we’ve come – there’s more consistency there. Of course it’s not easy chasing teams and getting points, but now is not the time to say it’s been great so far. We’ve got one more game and we need to go there and get a result, we want to go there to try to win and then we can count afterwards! [Smiles]

It's been a big physical effort for the players with 10 games in five weeks or so - how are the lads feeling ahead of Sunday?
“You'd expect players to feel it towards the end of a season anyway. This season has been a strange one as everyone knows. We've had five weeks playing now and all teams have got issues whether it be mental or physical injury-wise. We're in a very good position going into the last game, even though I'm sure some of the players are feeling it, but now is not the time to look for pains and aches. Now is the time to get 90 minutes in.”

How are Eric Bailly and Luke Shaw doing?
“We're going to give them as much time as possible, of course. I'm not going to rule anything out.”

How significant is it for Harry Maguire going back to his old club and has he had the kind of impact you envisaged when he signed a year ago?
“Obviously he’s had a rollercoaster of a season with us and he had a great spell at Leicester, he’s got feelings for Leicester so it’s a special game in one respect [for him] but then again it’s a game of football and I know how Harry focuses on the job at hand. He’ll leave all feelings to one side for 90 plus minutes.”

Gary Pallister was the last outfield player to play every minute of a Premier League season for United 25 years ago. In the modern game that’s a good effort isn’t it?
“Yes and Harry is one of those who gets better the more he plays. He gets his sharpness, finds his bearings and he’s always reliable and it just shows why we wanted to sign Harry because we need reliable defenders.”

How significant is it for Harry Maguire going back to his old club and has he had the kind of impact you envisaged when he signed a year ago?
“Obviously he’s had a rollercoaster of a season with us and he had a great spell at Leicester, he’s got feelings for Leicester so it’s a special game in one respect [for him] but then again it’s a game of football and I know how Harry focuses on the job at hand. He’ll leave all feelings to one side for 90 plus minutes.

Gary Pallister was the last outfield player to play every minute of a Premier League season for United 25 years ago. In the modern game that’s a good effort isn’t it?
”Yes and Harry is one of those who gets better the more he plays. He gets his sharpness, finds his bearings and he’s always reliable and it just shows why we wanted to sign Harry because we need reliable defenders.

You played in loads of high-stake matches – what’s the key going into these types of games when it’s almost like a final?
“Well, I didn’t play that many, I was on the bench for most of them! [Laughs] You just have to trust yourself, go and enjoy it, of course be focused and prepare as well as you can, and you know that when you walk off the pitch you’ve done everything you can to help the team. I’m very, very happy with the focus everyone has shown during the whole period now and we’ll go into the game looking for a win.”

The club has long been associated with the European Cup and Champions League, how important is it that we get back to that top table of European football?
“We’re chasing a position in the top four and that means a position in the Champions League and everyone wants to be in the Champions League, playing against the best teams and challenging yourself. Now is not the time to think about that at all though, now it’s time to think about getting this game played and winning it.”