EXCLUSIVE: MAJOR BOOST TO UNITED'S SQUAD IN TRAINING

Bruno Fernandes feels confident the Manchester United squad is fit, refreshed and ready to achieve success in the 2020/21 season - starting against Crystal Palace at Old Trafford on Saturday.

The influential midfielder was one of several players who missed last weekend’s friendly against Aston Villa after participating in UEFA Nations League fixtures, in his case with Portugal. Our no.18 also wished to stay beside his wife following the birth of their second child late last week, which he later announced on Instagram.

Fernandes is now back at the Aon Training Complex and is pictured working hard with his team-mates in our gallery of exclusive images, captured during an intense and upbeat session earlier today.

As you can see, Bruno was joined in training by our summer signing from Ajax, Donny van de Beek, who could make his official debut wearing the no.34 against the Eagles this weekend.

David De Gea, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Eric Bailly, Victor Lindelof, Fred, Nemanja Matic, Paul Pogba, Mason Greenwood and Anthony Martial are also pictured in our gallery, which is a huge positive after that group of Reds all missed our only pre-season friendly of the summer at Villa Park.

We caught up with Bruno for an interview that will appear in Saturday’s edition of United Review, the matchday programme at Old Trafford, and he is typically positive about the squad’s readiness.

“We don't have the normal pre-season,” he admits. “Most of us just trained this week with the team, but it is good because some of us have been in the national teams playing for our countries.

“We have just had 15 days of vacation but it was enough to enjoy time with the family, to relax a little bit and to come focused and fresh for the new season. Of course, we want vacations and everything, but we like and we love to play football, so we want to start sooner.

“For us, if you can play today already we would play. It is not about the days we had off or not. I think the most important thing now is to focus on our ambitions and the goal we want to achieve. I think everyone is focused now on that point.”

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is expected to provide an update on the squad and which players are available during his pre-match press conference on Friday.

An exact time for that media briefing is still to be confirmed and we will keep you updated as the week progresses.