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Jesse Lingard: United Red Devils are on a roll

Winger Lingard believes team spirit is key to United's form; Mancunian side will go all out in all four competitions

EPL
MAN UNITED HULL CITY

Winger Jesse Lingard believes there is a real togetherness within the Manchester United squad and that is showing on the pitch as they "are on a roll".

Speaking with Sky Sports News HQ, he insists the squad are full of confidence having lost just one game since their defeat by Fenerbahce on Nov 3.

"The lads and everyone are very confident at the moment," said the 24-year-old Lingard.

"Everyone is on a roll at the moment. It's the team spirit, winning matches, there's a real togetherness in the squad, we've really gelled in the last three or four months.

"Everyone speaks to everyone, we've really come together, and starting to show it on the field too."

That togetherness will play a vital role as United are involved in all four competitions as they try to cope with a demanding fixture schedule.

FIGHT ON FOUR FRONTS

Jose Mourinho's club are the only one in England still retaining an interest in a quartet of competitions - the English Premier League, Europa League, FA Cup and the League Cup, in which they can look forward to a Wembley final against Southampton next month.

Their success means United could face as many as 67 games, should they advance to the finals of the other two cup competitions and has led Mourinho to criticise the English fixture schedule as "nonsense".

But after a weekend in which a number of EPL teams were eliminated from the FA Cup after choosing weakened line-ups, attacking midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan claimed United want to succeed in every tournament.

"We are taking all the competitions seriously," he said.

"For Man United, every cup is very important. A trophy is a trophy. It doesn't matter if it is the League or FA Cup or the Europa League. We want to do our best to try to win them all."

United face relegation candidates Hull in the EPL at Old Trafford tomorrow morning (Singapore time), with Mourinho again likely to make sweeping changes to his team selection.

The weekend FA Cup win over Wigan saw the United manager make nine changes from his previous game, a League Cup semi-final also against Hull, and hand debuts to young substitutes Axel Tuanzebe and goalkeeper Joel Pereira.

Despite the Portuguese boss having expressed concerns about the lack of depth in his squad, Mkhitaryan claimed the competition for places and the emergence of young players at Old Trafford were healthy.

"It's great for them to play their first game," said the Armenian.

"You know that, when young players come into the squad, you have to help them and offer them some advice and I thought they both did well on what was a great experience for them."

England fullback Luke Shaw was handed his first start in two months against Wigan, but is far from certain to retain his place when United return to league action.

And Bastian Schweinsteiger, who started a game for the first time in over a year, is unlikely to be involved either, despite Mourinho having confirmed that the German has been named in his Europa League squad, submitted to Uefa, for the knock-out stages.

Meanwhile, Andy Robertson could become the latest player to leave Hull before the transfer window closes this morning, after Burnley launched a £10 million (S$17.7m) bid for the left back.

The Tigers have already sold Jake Livermore and Robert Snodgrass for a combined £20m during this transfer window, and they could now be joined by the Scotland international.

Robertson's former club Dundee United are entitled to 10 per cent of any profit on the 22-year-old, who moved to the KCOM Stadium for £2.85m in 2014.

Marco Silva's side travel to Old Trafford occupying a place in the relegation zone after one victory in their last 11 league games.

The Portuguese manager is desperate to hang onto the likes of Robertson after this month's high-profile departures and he said: "We need to sign players, not for players to leave." - WIRE SERVICES

eplManchester UnitedHull City