Smalling: We feed off Ole's joy and happiness

The Reds have been busy preparing for today’s huge Premier League match against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium, where Solskjaer masterminded an excellent Emirates FA Cup win in late January. 

Smalling was unavailable for that game and watched the all-action affair on TV, which he admits was a frustrating experience – even though he was obviously happy for his team-mates. His eventual return to action, away at Fulham in February, signalled the end of his injury troubles and the 29-year-old has produced a series of commanding performances, most recently at PSG in midweek.

Speaking to us ahead of today’s 16:30 GMT kick-off, Chris revealed it was difficult for him to sit out Solskjaer’s exciting start as boss. “It was very unfortunate,” he said. “Before Ole had come in I was used to playing every week and then I obviously had a broken toe, so I had to have a couple of months out, so I was chomping at the bit to get my boots back on and play under Ole. 

“Luckily, that came as soon as I was fit against Fulham. I must say, it was nice to see the team doing well but I was just eager to get back in there and get involved. I was very fortunate that when I was back fit, Ole called upon me.”

Asked to describe the mood under Solskjaer, now that he has played a series of matches, Smalling continued: “There is just a smile on everyone's faces. I think you can see with Ole that he is always smiling - be it at the training ground, at games or in post-match interviews. 

“You can see that joy and happiness that he has. We feed off that. There are players who are injured, others who have stepped up, and everyone has got that belief, whoever steps in, that we can keep that high level that we have managed under Ole.”

Solskjaer has impressively overseen a run of nine consecutive away wins across all competitions and Smalling is confident that the club record can be extended at the Emirates Stadium today. 

"Yeah, I think we are [confident],” he said. “We have got that belief. Especially in the last five or six weeks from the teams we have come up against, whether it is Chelsea, Tottenham or PSG, all sorts, we know that we can go to teams and we can hurt teams. That belief could not be any higher at the moment."

The squad has shown its remarkable strength in recent matches, when up to 10 first-team players have been unavailable through injury, but the ranks will hopefully be boosted against Arsenal with Ander Herrera, Nemanja Matic and Anthony Martial tipped to return by Solskjaer. 

“One hundred per cent it’s a boost because they have been really key players for us this season and especially under Ole, they have been terrific,” Smalling explained. “To be able to have more players to call upon us just fantastic for us, going into such a big game.”

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