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Striker Marcus Rashford believes an improved ‘winning mentality’ has helped Manchester United challenge for the Premier League title.
United last lifted the English top-flight trophy in the 2012-2013 season, with Sir Alex Ferguson at the helm. It has been slim pickings since then, as a succession of managers have tried and failed.
It seemed as though present incumbent Ole Gunnar Solskjaer would go the same way after a poor start this term. But the Old Trafford giants now sit second in the table, three points behind rivals Manchester City.
The Citizens do have a game in hand but not many United fans would expect their side to be so close. And England’s Rashford feels he has pinpointed one of the main reasons why they are flying.
“You can’t play for United if you don’t have mental strength,” he told Goal. “If you can’t cope with the pressure of playing for a club like this, then you just can’t perform at a team of this size.
“The players have shown on many different occasions that we can do it, so it’s just about achieving that consistency of doing it every game.
“This year has been better and we can still improve on it, and have a strong finish to the season. It starts from individuals always just wanting more and when it goes into a collective, you get that winning mentality.”
Failure a big spur at United
The north-west outfit have won three trophies since Ferguson’s departure. They have secured an FA Cup and an EFL Cup while claiming the Europa League in 2016-2017.
However, there has also been plenty of heartache, with United losing four semi-finals under the Norwegian. But far from wallow in self pity, Rashford feels it has galvanised the players who strive for success.
“If you’ve been in a tournament the whole season, and you get to the final and you lose, it’s like all that hard work you’ve put in was for nothing,” he added.
“When that happens to you, you’re either going to go one way or the other. But the team and the staff have stuck together and I think we’ve shown by the way that we’re playing now that those experiences have helped us in a sense.
“We’ve progressed since those defeats and hopefully we can continue to do that.”
United are next in action on Saturday when they welcome Everton to the Theatre of Dreams.
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