Ole: We’re through, that’s the main thing
TranscriptOle Gunnar Solskjaer gives us his thoughts on United’s narrow win over Watford, plus an update on Eric Bailly…
Ole, how is Eric? It looked like a nasty knock to his head... "There was no concussion. Apparently it was his neck, a sore neck, but he couldn't carry on so let's check on him tomorrow." On behalf of all United fans, we wish him well and hope he's okay. As for the game, a scrappy one but you've done the job and you've got through to the next round? "Yeah, you're through and that's the main thing. We started really brightly. I didn't expect us to start this well, because it's a team that's not really played together and they've not really played for a while, and you expect them to grow into the game. But a really good start, and they created some chances and of course scored a goal. After about 20-25 minutes, maybe, we stopped playing simple football; we tried to complicate things and we got counter-attacked a few times." The goal from Scott was a terrific header. We spoke to him a few seconds ago and he said he should be scoring more of them... "Yeah, exactly! We've said that to him so many times as well! He's strong, he's quick, he can leap, [he has] good timing, so he should get more goals." It would be fantastic to add that to his armoury, because his all-round game is developing all the time and he's looking like a real player right now... "Yeah, he's developing really nicely. The leadership role as well - I wanted to see how he took to that captain's armband, and he did really well. He didn't shrink. He normally leads anyway, but then we just wanted to test him." I think you've given him a taste for it! That might be a problem down the line – now he wants more of that! "There's quite a few that want that band!" A lot of players were getting some valuable minutes, which is really crucial at this time when all these fixtures and coming thick and fast... "Yeah, very important. You know we had a tough game midweek. We have a tough game midweek coming, so we were the only team having both [midweek fixtures] before and this game. You can see most of the teams have gone strong, picked very good strong sides, because they've got a week until the next game. I didn't have that luxury, so it was just common sense to make changes." And we've already seen a number of Premier League teams fall already in this FA Cup, so to get through is a good achievement... "Yeah. Going through is the only thing that you can do. Five-nil or 1-0, it doesn't matter - as long as you get in the hat. And now I guess it's all about that recovery and getting ready, because as you said that Burnley game is upcoming... "Yeah, just around the corner. We'll have the boys ready again. Some of these will play probably, and there'll be a few new fresh legs as well that managed to get a rest tonight." It's great to have that luxury to be able to rotate, because mostly you're fully fit right now which is a terrific position to be in, and credit to the work that the physios and all the backroom staff are doing... "Yeah, the staff, they're doing an amazing job. Everything's laid out for them, they look after the players fantastically. But the players are looking after themselves as well. Don't forget that it's hard times for everyone, difficult times for everyone, but going home, recovering, getting ready for the next games is the main thing right now."