Eriksen eyes successful end to the season

The Dane made his first Premier League start since January in our 2-0 victory over Nottingham Forest at The City Ground, playing a pivotal role in midfield despite only coming into the starting line-up late in the day.

Marcel Sabitzer was forced to withdraw from our XI in the warm-up, giving our no.14 the chance to step in from the off having featured from the bench in our previous two games against Everton and Sevilla.

Eriksen put in a display that left no indication of his recent recovery from injury, which left him sidelined for two months, as he controlled the midfield in Nottinghamshire alongside Bruno Fernandes and Casemiro.

That trio were at the heart of United’s prolific chance creation in the East Midlands that led to our impressive win, securing three points to move us back into third in the Premier League standings, leapfrogging Newcastle United, who were defeated by Aston Villa earlier this weekend.

Asked by MUTV’s Stewart Gardner about how much of a role our respective results could play in the chase for Champions League football, Eriksen said: “Every game now until the end is going to be very important – someone is going to drop down, someone’s going to go in front.

“So if we stay on the front foot like we are now, we’re going to be in a very good position and be safe for the Champions League before the season is done.”

The Dane had also earlier spoken with the Sky Sports panel – including presenter David Jones, ex-Chelsea man Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Reds legend Roy Keane.

Eriksen told the trio: “There’s still loads of games, but we want to go for everything as much as we can.

“I think the league is probably a bit too far, but for the rest, I think for revenge in Seville on Thursday and then after that, of course, a semi-final.

“But we want to compete, we want to be in as many games as possible and you have to win to be in finals.”

He has been forced to sit out United’s action-packed schedule for the last two months through injury, but he has been impressed by his team-mates performances during that time.

Eriksen feels the campaign – although not yet concluded – can be considered a positive one so far, dependent on us achieving our goals, but described a positive atmosphere in the camp which is aiding us in that pursuit right now.

“They’ve [his team-mates] impressed me, they’ve kept the intensity, they’ve kept the level for how they play. The games, everything, even from the outside, has been looking good.

“If you take into account how we started [the season], I mean, I came here and played as a striker in the first game.

“It’s a completely different role now and a completely different feeling around the club and also on the pitch. The feeling around the boys is really good.”

Eriksen’s comments to MUTV also revealed how he felt playing alongside Casemiro and Bruno Fernandes in midfield, and how he believes United can approach a pivotal pair of upcoming games in the Europa League and FA Cup in the next seven days with confidence.

“They [Bruno and Casemiro] are two exceptional players and they know how to move and how to play balls, so it’s easy to fit in even when you’ve been away for a while. They helped me a lot, in general, [so has] the team, it’s been really good. So it’s easy to slot in.

“I’m sure we’ll be full of energy for both games and full of confidence to go into the [fixtures] and really win to go through in both tournaments. It will be two fun games.”