McTominay reveals goals target

The midfielder headed home Juan Mata's set piece at the Amex Stadium to put the Reds on the way to sealing a Carabao Cup quarter-final spot.

Scott sat down with us to reflect on opening his goals account for the campaign, and told us he's working hard on adding to his tally.

“First and foremost, for an early game in the season it’s good to get off the mark with the goals, and it’s something I’m looking to add into my game all the time with the coaches and the work I’m doing off the pitch as well,” he revealed.

“You have to spread goals around, you can’t just solely rely on two, three, four to get the goals; that’s not the way it works. For us as midfielders, and also you’ve got the defenders too, we all have to contribute more. It’s something the coaches have spoken about and everyone is really dialled in to that.

“I feel fit, ready to go and I’m fully focused,” added the Scotland international. “My legs are fresh and whenever the manager needs me, I’m ready. He knows that anyway, because I always tell him!” [Laughs]

The cup win at Brighton made it back-to-back wins over the Seagulls, following our dramatic league victory there eight days ago. The Reds will be aiming to build on those two results at home to Tottenham on Sunday, and McTominay feels the team are heading in the right direction with fitness, performances and results.

“You can’t expect too much too soon from a team that’s had one-and-a-half weeks together, and everyone is at different levels coming back from international duty. It’s no time to panic, the [bad] results are a bump on the road. The performances will come with the stronger and fitter we get,” he explained.

“Obviously, we’re playing for Man United and we know the expectation is there, but for us as a team we know we’re going in the right way.

“Step by step, everyone is getting fitter and stronger. We have to maintain those levels of performance and win football matches at all costs; that’s the message we’re getting from the manager and the coaches. For us, it’s important to keep building every week, go step by step. It’s about putting those performances together and the results definitely will follow if we play well and to our capabilities.”

Last time out against Tottenham at Old Trafford, in December 2019, the Reds ran out 2-1 winners thanks to a Marcus Rashford brace. McTominay expects another typically battling encounter, despite Spurs's exertions in the last week, which make Sunday's match the Lilywhites' fourth game in seven days.

“The more expansive version of Spurs is difficult to play against. It’s not like you can go to Old Trafford and feel it’s nice and easy, they’ll come ready,” warned our midfielder. “We know the manager they’ve got, the staff they’ve got and some of the world-class players they’ve got too, and they’ll be ready to come here and play better than they did last year, so we have to expect that.

“You look at their attacking players... Son, Lucas Moura, Harry Kane, with Kane coming in between the lines and them two running in behind… that’s a lot of pace. So for us it’s really important to focus on their biggest threats. They’ll definitely be worried about our threats as well. It's set up for a really important game.”

The new season is here. Our 2020/21 home, away and third kits are available now from United Direct.