Ole Gunnar Solskjaer believes Manchester United have put their Liverpool nightmare behind them ahead of their Old Trafford return against Manchester City.
United lost 5-0 at home to Liverpool nearly two weeks ago before steadying the ship with a 3-0 win at Tottenham and a 2-2 draw away to Atalanta in the Champions League.
Solskjaer has been under scrutiny since the Liverpool defeat, but after watching Cristiano Ronaldo, Luke Shaw, and the rest of the squad preparing for the crucial derby on Saturday, he remained upbeat.
“We’ve moved on from that one,” Solskjaer said of the Liverpool result.
“Of course it’s going to be in the history books but we’ve had a good week. We’ve had good results away from home, difficult games, and the mindset is positive.
“We’ve got to go into this game believing we can do good things. It’s a local derby and everyone knows what’s at stake.”
Of the focus on his own position, Solskjaer said: “When I stepped in the doors here in December 2018 there’s been speculation ever since.
“So that’s no problem. You don’t expect an easy ride when you become manager of Man United.
“That’s how it is and we’re ready for this game.”
Solskjaer’s defensive resources have been depleted this week with the loss of Raphael Varane.
The former Real Madrid centre-back was forced off against Atalanta with a hamstring injury that Solskjaer expects to sideline him for “four to five weeks”.
Victor Lindelof missed out on Tuesday with a knock sustained in training and Eric Bailly deputised for the Sweden international in Italy.
“With all the technology now you expect him to be out for four or five weeks with the scans that we’ve seen of him,” Solskjaer said of Varane.
“It’s a blow for us because Raphael has come in and been really influential.
“But we have big squads to cope with some absentees at times.
“Victor is still a doubt but hopefully he can come back in. I would expect him to be ready but I can’t promise.”
United are definitely without midfielder Paul Pogba, who serves the second game of a three-match ban after being sent off against Liverpool.
Pictures of the Manchester United squad preparing for the match can be seen in the gallery above. To see the next image, just swipe.
