Phil Jones has issued a rallying call to his Manchester United teammates, saying that reaching the League Cup final at Wembley is a must.
Having been knocked out of the FA Cup earlier this month and currently sitting 14 points off league leaders Arsenal and six adrift of the top four, realistically the Reds are only still fighting in the League Cup and Europe.
While the 21-year-old said that winning the competition was always on the Red’s minds, he admitted that the current situation has upped the importance of tomorrow’s second-leg encounter with Sunderland.
“It was always massively important to us – we want to win every competition,” said Jones. “Now we have to go out and produce the goods. We have to get to that final.”
Although United started the first leg on Wearside as bookies’ favourites, the home side turned in a 2-1 victory to put the Old Trafford outfit’s hopes on a knife edge.
Tomorrow night the home crowd could play a big role as their team attempt to overturn the deficit and set up a probable Manchester derby in north London, something which Jones believes is owed to the fans.
“The fans have been terrific and they were great again [at Stamford Bridge] on Sunday,” he said.
“They’ve not had the easiest of times this season but they’ve stuck by us and that’s important. We all need to stick together – fans, players, staff – and we’ll come out stronger for that.”
United’s 3-1 league defeat at Chelsea on Sunday means they have lost four of their past five games in all competitions, a run which David Moyes needs to halt sooner rather than later.
Reports this week indicated that the Old Trafford helmsman may soon table a £37million bid for out-of-favour Chelsea playmaker Juan Mata, a move which could help reverse the worrying trend.
It was also confirmed that the Scot will be using this weekend – during which United will not play following their FA Cup third-round exit – to watch Borussia Monchengladbach midfielder Patrick Herrmann in action.
Prior to the League Cup semi-final defeat two weeks ago the Reds hadn’t lost to Sunderland since being overcome in the same competition, then called the Worthington Cup, almost 14 years ago.
However, with what could be a crucial away goal and the home crowd behind them, Moyes and his boys are well-placed to recover some of their flagging confidence.
Image courtesy of MUTV via YouTube, with thanks.
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