Scott McTominay believes that Manchester United are ready to take on Nottingham Forest this week, as well as our stacked fixture list across December and January.
Erik ten Hag’s men will play six matches across the next three weeks and will play Old Trafford at least nine times from now until the end of February. This run of fixtures starts with the Premier League clash against Forest on Tuesday 27 December.
Speaking in the Forest edition of United Review, our official matchday programme, the Scotland international says that the biggest asset the Reds' squad has, which will see us through the gruelling schedule, is togetherness.
“You need a big squad.”
said McTominay. “That’s what the manager always says about the squad game. You need everyone together and pushing in the right direction. That’s where it comes in, in the festive period when it’s crammed full of games and you might have a couple of injuries here and there. It’s important that you have a real team spirit and togetherness around the squad and that everyone can step in when they’re needed.”
United have not played a Premier League fixture since 13 November: our last fixture before the 2022 World Cup. Since then, the Reds have taken part in friendlies against Cadiz CF and Real Betis, before returning to competitive action with a Carabao Cup win against Burnley on Wednesday 21 December.
McTominay, who was part of Ten Hag's squad for the winter training camp in Spain, says that the United squad have adapted well to the changes this unprecedented season has thrown up.
“This [the World Cup pause] wasn’t really a winter break that we’re used to,
“ he said. ”
In places like Holland, they’re used to having a winter period as a bit of a rest, but it’s something completely foreign to us.
“But footballers always have to adapt. We’ve had COVID, we’ve had different world events throughout the years where we’ve had to adapt as footballers and do things a bit differently, which is just how it is. For us, we’re coming up to a busy period of games and the second half of the season, and we’re really looking forward to it.”
With the festive period coming to an end and fans returning to football grounds now that the World Cup is over, Scott welcomes back the United supporters to Old Trafford for the match against Forest.
“Yeah, I feel like people are always a little bit happier [at this time of year],
“ ”
They’re a little bit merry and this year obviously loving watching the football being back on after the World Cup.
“I feel like for us it’s just business as usual really. We have to make sure we’re ready no matter what time of year it is, whether it’s freezing cold or hot in the summer. Your mindset doesn’t really change in that respect. You want to go on the pitch and win every game possible.”