Matic: Ole’s trust means everything

The in-form midfielder was praised by Solskjaer after last week’s impressive 3-0 victory over Sheffield United. The Reds boss declared Matic to be “playing some of his best football” and the Serbian was delighted to hear such praise, insisting he’s determined to maintain his influence and impact in United’s engine room.

“If the coach says that then it means I am playing well and he trusts me so thank you,” Nemanja told MUTV’s Stewart Gardner. “I don’t know if it’s my best form but I’m trying to do my best to improve every day and bring something to the team. That’s only what comes if you bring some positive things to your team and I will continue to do that.

“I feel physically strong,” he added. “I play with a lot of confidence and that’s very important for me. It’s also important when your coaches trust you and the manager trusts you and he says positive things about you. That’s only what matters.

“During the lockdown all the players did well and we followed the programme that the coaching staff made for us. I think everyone was fantastic and professional and we’ve also been training hard and we’re very happy with team form. Physically we feel strong and we’re in a good way, and hopefully if we continue like this we can win two trophies at the end of the season.”

Fresh from making a 200^th Premier League appearance of his career, in the recent draw at Tottenham, Matic wants to add further to that tally and ensure a strong end to the campaign for the Reds in both the league and the cup competitions.

United booked a spot against Matic’s old team Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-finals and he’s relishing the battles that lie ahead against his former employers at Wembley and beyond.

 “It’s always nice to compete with top teams and Chelsea is obviously one of the best teams in the Premier League. It’s always special to play against them, my ex-club, and we are happy that we’re playing against them at Wembley,” said the 31-year-old. “I’m very positive and happy with how the team has performed in the last few games and I think we are ready to compete with them.

“We respect them a lot and we always prepare for that game in a high level and this time we will do the same. The last few games from them they have played some good football and improved a lot, and I think this game will be very interesting for supporters to watch and we will see who can play better and who will be in the final.

“Making my 200^th appearance was nice of course,” he added. “To be honest I didn’t count! My friends told me I had 199 Premier League games before the 200^th and I was like ‘Oh, I didn’t realise!’ So it was nice to play my 200^th game against Tottenham and I hope there will be many more.”

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