Manchester United are ready to maximize their pursuit of a fourth-place Premier League finish following the Premier League’s winter break, according to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
A 0-0 draw at home to Wolves on February 1 saw the Red Devils miss a golden chance to close the gap on Chelsea – who presently occupy the final Champions League spot.
Solskjaer’s men are six points off the pace in ninth at the moment, with an important trip to Stamford Bridge to face the Blues up next on Monday.
United have crushed Chelsea twice this season, and even have credible victories over Manchester city , Tottenham and Leicester on their record.
However, their results against the Premier League’s lesser sides are way less impressive, with a scarcity of creativity within the final third proving expensive on a number of occasions.
Solskjaer insists United are going to be rejuvenated after two weeks away from the pitch, as he reflects on a positive training camp in Marbella that brought the squad closer together.
“The break has been excellent. It’s good to be back, however we had a decent week out there,” he told the club’s official web site . “It was needed and that i think we’ll see the benefit within the whole league, never mind just us.
The whole Premier League will, I’m sure, benefit from having this break.
“We had to get along again, however we had to give them some days off 1st to refresh. once we got together, we had a decent week training down there and worked hard. It had great facilities, they looked after us down there and also the players enjoyed themselves.
“It’s an amazing way of getting the group gelling together.”
Solskjaer went on to discuss how necessary 3 points against Chelsea would be for the Red Devils, whereas demand that the winter break will also hold them in good stead to beat Club Brugge within the Europa League knockout stages.
“It’s an enormous game in fact, Chelsea are third or fourth nearly all season thus for us and also the chasing pack they’re the ones to catch,” Solskjaer said. “Hopefully, we are able to get 3 points which will build an enormous difference for us going forward.
“Hopefully we’ll go through against Club Brugge, a decent team, and if we do, we’ll have eleven games in those six weeks.
“That’s possible. It’s another laborious task for the boys and that’s why this week together and the week off before that, I’m certain we’ll be at an advantage for it. It’s important of course, each game is very important.
There are solely thirteen [league] games left to claw back the points we need.”
When asked how Marcus Rashford and Paul Pogba are progressing as they still recover from individual injuries, Solskjaer responded: “They’re professional and they want to get back as fast as they can.
“It’s a difficult period when you’re a player and you’re injured. I’m certain once we see them on the pitch, they’ll play with a smile again.”
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