Interviews

“You have to keep focused” – Defender stresses that tie is not over

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Lisandro Martinez won the Player of the Match award for his excellent display in Manchester United’s 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest at the City Ground last night, however, speaking to Sky Sports and MUTV, the defender had a word of caution for his team-mates.

The Argentine stressed that United must stay concentrated and not slip up as they aim to reach the final of the Carabao Cup because anything outcome is still possible.

“You never know,” said Licha. “You have to keep focused.

“We have to work on the next game [against Reading on Saturday] and then we have to think about the other leg. It is not done yet and we have to keep going.

“I think everyone worked really hard and you can see now the last two games were unlucky. We did an amazing job, but we have to keep going. You can see when we don’t do the right things, we can concede goals. And then we control the game. Like I said, we have many things to improve and we have to keep going” [via Man Utd].

It is good to see that Martinez is being cautious because United have in their last two Premier League games let their opponents get something from the game, when they were in a good position to get a win against Crystal Palace and a draw against the league leaders Arsenal. The Butcher also said that it was vital that United recovered from those two harrowing results with a strong performance and victory over Steve Cooper’s side.

“We really needed this result. I think we showed many good things but we also have a lot to improve. But it is a good result, I think we controlled the game today. But we have to keep going and also keep calm.

“[We conceded] against Crystal Palace in the last minute, against Arsenal as well. But we never give up. Today we did a really good job, we won the game and that is most important” [via Man Utd].

With Harry Maguire out of the game at the City Ground due to suspension and United needing to rest Raphael Varane, Martinez was paired with Victor Lindelof at the heart of the United defence, and the Argentine said the Swede played well, which the United number 6 has been helped by how they are working together on the training pitches at Carrington.

“In the training with each other I think we are doing a really good job. And that is most important, when we need a player [to come into the team], you need to be there, you have to be ready. And Victor did very well” [via Man Utd].

It is likely that Martinez will get a well-earned rest for the visit of Reading on Saturday night, as Luke Shaw missed the game against Forest because of illness, so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the England international replace Martinez at left centre-back.

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