Manchester United head coach Marc Skinner says that his side’s focus will continue to be on the quality of their performance when they face Aston Villa on Sunday.
The Red Devils have lost three of their last four matches in all competitions but head coach Skinner doesn’t want his side to concentrate too much on results.
When speaking in the pre-match press conference, Skinner said that this weekend’s game offers the opportunity to reset and build new momentum, although the focus has to remain on quality of performance.
“Yeah we have to [reset] but what I don’t want to do, and I’ll be clear on this, we won’t just solely try to get a result at the detriment of our performances,” Skinner said.
“It’s about playing Aston Villa with our quality. I look at what we did the other night [against Manchester City] and that’s got to be the intensity we play at. It’s harder in a three-game week, our backline are having to play continuous minutes.
“We want to prioritise performance as we believe that gives us results. We have to take our chances and make sure we’re resolute and solid in defence to keep clean sheets.”
In their last two games against Chelsea and Manchester City, Manchester United have registered 22 shots on goal, however, they have lost both matches. Skinner believes that his side need to have the right mental focus to take more of their chances.
He said “I don’t think it’s confidence. Confidence doesn’t allow you to get those chances. If you’re low on confidence, you don’t attack or create chances. It’s maybe an eagerness more than a confidence issue to try and get those goals.
“There aren’t many teams who go to Manchester City and create that many chances, especially with seven changes and the quality of the chances. There’s stuff we can do of course. We’ll identify how we’ll create chances against Aston Villa and put the players in those positions but we know we can’t replicate the game.
“We can get into the mindset and into the practise situations. That’s what we’ll do over the next two days. Once again, it’s just getting the headspace right to finish it in the moment. We’re getting into those moments so now, it’s just taking the chances.”
Manchester United’s Barclays Women’s Super League fixture against Aston Villa kicks-off at 12pm on Sunday afternoon. Tickets remain on-sale and can be purchased by clicking here.
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