Matic: It's the game of the season for us

The 31-year-old says the disappointment of Sunday’s FA Cup semi-final defeat to Chelsea is already behind United and everyone is fully concentrated on securing what would be a vital three points in the quest for Champions League football.

The Reds know a win will take us three points ahead of Leicester and temporarily above Chelsea, who travel to Anfield on the same night, and Matic says the players know they cannot let this opportunity slip.

“Two more games and we have to go with everything until the end,” he insisted in an interview with MUTV. “Of course we are sad to lose the semi-final but we know this is football and this is life, you cannot win always, it was not our day. You have to be focused on the next game and the Chelsea game is already behind us, and we will be ready for the West Ham game.

“For me and for us of course we know it is the game of the season for us. We didn’t think much about our record [19 games unbeaten] and counting the games, we were just thinking about catching that top-four position. I think we did well in the last couple of months and after this Chelsea defeat we have to keep our heads up and this is another final for us.

“If we win this game we have a big possibility to play in the Champions League next season and as I said it is the game of the season now.”

David Moyes will return to Old Trafford with a West Ham side safe from relegation barring a complete goals miracle from Aston Villa and Bournemouth and Matic says United are well aware of the threats they pose, particularly with the pressure off them.

“Everyone knows they are safe but it’s never easy to play against anyone in the Premier League. They’re all good teams,” he insisted. “We know what our job is, we know our quality and there is no excuse for this game.

“They won against Chelsea a couple of games ago so we have to prepare this game like a final as I said. We respect them but on the other side we know about our quality.

“Motivation is high always when you play at Old Trafford. I expect them to come here to try to take points, everyone has high motivation to play against Manchester United. But in our stadium we have to use our qualities and to go with everything for three points.”