Solskjaer exclusive: We must be focused & positive

The Reds suffered a disappointing 3-1 defeat to the Blues on Tuesday night, but there is no time to feel sorry and this afternoon's 15:00 GMT kick-off provides an opportunity to respond in the best possible manner.

In our exclusive interview to preview the match, conducted at the Aon Training Complex on Friday morning, Solskjaer spoke about a collective determination to produce at Old Trafford against the Canaries. 

But first, the manager began by tackling recent transfer speculation in the press...

There has been a lot of noise on social media about Ashley Young – what the latest on him?
“Social media I don’t read that! [Laughs] Of course there is always going to be speculation about our players and we’ll just have to put up with it, that’s just the way it is at this club. We’re always headlines, front or back page.”

It’s the same with speculation about players coming in too isn’t it – there isn’t much you can really say until something has been done?
“No. Of course we’re always looking for the right deal and players who fit for Man United and that’s not going to be a short-term fix. I’m fed up saying it but we are looking to build and looking forward and we need players who will stay here for a long time.”

Looking to the Norwich game, how have the preparations been going? It’s been a short window of opportunity to get ready again…
“Yes it has. We’ve not really had too much training time. Of course the ones who didn’t play, some of them have trained. We had a light session yesterday [Thursday] and today [Friday] we’ll have a preparation session and go through the team and let’s see who comes through it, that’s the most important thing.”

What are you expecting from Norwich?
“I expect Norwich to be themselves. They are a team that are very true to Daniel [Farke]. When he came in he changed quite a bit and they’re going to go for it. We played them down there and did well, but still we know how capable they are of playing their own way. They’re learning in the Premier League and now it’s the second half [of the season] I’m sure they’re going to pick up points, but hopefully not against us.”

The game at their place was a really good performance and win for us. What did you learn from that match that can help us this weekend?
“Of course we’ve looked at that one, but that was a few months ago now. We’ve got to dust ourselves down and get the disappointment of the last couple of games with Arsenal and City especially out of our heads and be focused and positive and go out there and be ourselves.”

Norwich are likely to be a team that will sit back and soak up the pressure from us – is it a case of trying to work out the best way to break them down?
“Well both yes and no because they do play. They play good football, they attack and they’ve got talented, young players. They have some players who have really proven that they’re capable of playing in the Premier League. I like watching them… even the first game when they lost against Liverpool in quite a big defeat, you could see what they were trying to do and if you’re not bang on you’ll struggle so we have to be bang on.”

And one for the Scandinavian strikers, Teemu Pukki is a real threat isn’t he… his work rate is great as well as his finishing ability?
“He might be injured. The new young boy from Ireland [Adam Idah] who scored a hat-trick against Preston on his debut, he might play upfront. Whoever plays we know they’re going to have a goal threat from those two.”

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