James can't wait for Spurs under the floodlights
Manchester United winger Daniel James says our vocal home support can carry us to victory when we host Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League tonight (Wednesday, 19:30 GMT kick-off).
It’s our first midweek league fixture of the season, and our summer signing from Swansea City is looking forward to the occasion at Old Trafford.
“Yeah, I think it’s massive,” the 22-year-old told us last week. “Obviously, we go into every game wanting to win but I think the midweek games, especially under floodlights, are massive.
“The fans are going to be right behind us but it’s a massively important game and we want to go into that with our heads held high and hoping that we can win.”
James has shone in two of our previous home clashes with so-called‘big-six’ sides this season, scoring off the bench in the 4-0 opening day victory over Chelsea and setting up Marcus Rashford’s goal on the way to winning Man of the Match in the draw with Liverpool.
The speedy forward caused the Merseysiders’ defence no end of problems in October and sees that determined, counter-attacking performance as a blueprint for us looking ahead.
“It shows the kick we got when we got that result against Liverpool,” added James. “As a draw, I think we were very disappointed not to go and win that game.
“They scored very late on but what we did that game, we played great, I think everyone can say that.
“We really worked hard and obviously those matches give you a great step going forward.”
The Spurs contest is the second of nine games United will play across three competitions in December, and James is looking forward to the festive fixture schedule.
“As a footballer, you just want to play games,” said James, who has featured in every one of our 14 Premier League matches so far.
“That’s something that in December, obviously there are a lot of games coming up and the squad will get changed throughout the month.
“Everyone’s going to play their part and it’s something I’m going to be looking forward to.”
Premier League tests against arch-rivals Manchester City and Arsenal, as well as a Carabao Cup quarter-final at home to Colchester United and an Emirates FA Cup third-round tie at Wolves, are all scheduled in between now and the first weekend in January.
James sees the next month as being a vital chapter in the story of our season.
“I think December and, after Christmas, [the league] really opens out," he explained.
“This is our chance to go on a good run and keep doing the things right that we’ve been doing.”
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