Manchester United prepare for their trip to Burnley on Tuesday night and their boss, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, has addressed the media. 

  • Our position in the league table

Solskjaer has held his pre-match press conferences, in each of which he stated that he’s not looking at the league table.

“We’re not even halfway through season. Every Premier League game is a challenge. Every game is different test. Burnley is a test, Liverpool another, then you go to Fulham which is a different test again.

“No-one will remember how the table looked on 12 Jan 2021. My eyes are on Tuesday and then let’s see where we’re at after that one.”

"March and April is where the league would be decided. This is our catch-up game because we started later.

"It is about getting performances right and points on the board and not let teams get away with it. We have done well."

  • The importance of beating Burnley

That being said, he didn’t hold back on the importance of beating the Clarets.

"Of course we want to win and build momentum again. If we can get a win on Tuesday, then when you win two games on the bounce again, you go into the next game confident. Every game in the Premier League is a chance to build more confidence.

"They have had some good results after a difficult start," said Solskjaer.

"All the teams want to take a grip on the league, but it is the type of season there will be ups and downs and less consistency. As a fan, more interesting when more teams rather than one running away with it."

We’ve only finished inside the top four three times since Sir Alex Ferguson retired, but successful transfer business in 2020 has given us a real shot at, not only the top four, but perhaps the league title.

"Since Sir Alex [Ferguson] left, it has been second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh," said Solskjaer.

"It is important to establish ourselves in the top four. We have only done that three times since Sir Alex left. It's a different ball game to when I played. We finished third once, but now so many teams challenge and look at themselves as candidates.

"There weren’t that many teams able to challenge the top teams. In a good year, you win, in a bad year, you are second or third. There are so many strong squads now. It makes it more exciting than the last few seasons."

  • Transfer news

Solskjaer, though, says that he doesn’t anticipate further incomings with month, but some players may leave Old Trafford.

“It is unlikely that we will sign anyone this month. [Marcus] Rojo, [Sergio] Romero and [Timothy] Fosu-Mensah are free to talk to other clubs.”

And reports have since emerged that Bayer Leverkusen are about to sign Fosu-Mensah for the rather small fee of £1.5m.

  • Praise for Scott McTominay

Finally, the gaffer has been full of praise for Saturday’s match winner, Scott McTominay.

"Scott has got everything a leader has to have. I wanted to test him by making him captain and see how he would react.

"He delivered and he always does. He was brilliant.

"We have always trusted our young men coming through and Scott is one who we believe has the Manchester United DNA in him and knows what it is to be a Manchester United player."

Our future, then, seems to be in safe hands. Let’s hope the boys can get the job done and make Turf Moor our happy place to make the present ever better.