Manchester United's Scott McTominay has admitted Erik ten Hag had stressed the importance of 'bouncing back' against Brentford.
In his pre-match press conference, Ten Hag urged his players to respond to Sunday's defeat against Newcastle and they looked the better side from the first whistle against Brentford, seizing the initiative from the start and testing the London club.
It also didn't take long for that dominance to be rewarded, as Marcus Rashford opened the scoring in the 28th minute after a lofted ball from Antony into the box and a knockdown from Marcel Sabitzer, who provided the assist.
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Rashford fired in from close range and that goal proved to be enough for the three points following an uneventful second half.
It was a gritty, determined performance from United, who defended well against Brentford in the closing stages, but it was the victory that mattered most and that's what McTominay discussed with MUTV after the 1-0 win.
"That's what the message was: to bounce back," McTominay said. "I thought the play in the first half was pretty good and we controlled the game really well. In the second half, we lacked a little bit of composure in the final third.
"I thought we really fought hard, they're a really tough team to play against. For us, it's fighting and digging in, there's a game every three days for the foreseeable future toward the end of the season and it's a squad game.
"We've got some good players coming back and that's important. Fingers crossed we get to all the finals and that's something the manager has reiterated to us, that it's a squad game and hopefully we'll win three more trophies.
"You never know [top four race], that's football, there are plenty of games left to play and we just need to be there."
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