Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag has opened up on what he told supporters as he left the pitch following his side's win over Leicester.
Two goals from Marcus Rashford and one from Jadon Sancho secured the three points for the Red Devils on Sunday evening. It means United have closed the gap on fierce rivals Manchester City to three points as they look to gatecrash the title race.
The win is the perfect way to prepare for Thursday's clash with Barcelona, with that Europa League tie finely poised heading into the second leg. With that game at the centre of his thoughts, Ten Hag decided to encourage fans to back his team as he left the pitch on Sunday.
The Dutchman was filmed engaging with fans celebrating United's win over the Foxes as he walked down the tunnel. And he has revealed that he urged those supporters to also come to Thursday's huge clash with Barca.
"I said, 'Come Thursday'. It's a big game, make sure you are there and we beat Barcelona together. I thank the fans for their trust in me. I feel committed with this club, I love to be here but it's not in my influence," Ten Hag said.
"What I can influence is the performance of this team and I will give everything to perform as good as possible and to bring them hopefully across limits. We are committed with this club.
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"It's our club, it's in our heart. But it's not our job, we are focusing on football and performing, from our team, that is what the players and staff around have to do."
Despite the win over Leicester, Ten Hag was left frustrated with his side's performance in the first half. And the Dutchman paid tribute to goalkeeper David de Gea for making a series of key saves to keep United in the game.
“We are happy with the result, it is a great result. I think when you play every third day, you can’t always get your same performance to the limits of the game and today, the first half was really tough," he said.
"Firstly, Leicester played brilliantly, but secondly, we were rubbish. In our way of playing, we were really inconsequential, and undisciplined in our principles and rules of the game, and then we got problems.
"It was only [thanks to] David De Gea that we kept the clean sheet to half-time. We were lucky and we scored a great goal – great pass by Bruno, great run from Rashy – to go 1-0 up.
“First of all we think next game and Thursday, it’s going to be a big night – it has to be for us but we have to work for that. We have to fight the opponent with our fans and to make Old Trafford really a fortress and that is what we are thinking about."
