Ashley Young insists Manchester United’s players will not let the turbulent events of the last week distract them as they look to resurrect their sesaon.
Jose Mourinho was dismissed as manager on Tuesday after overseeing United’s worst start to a league campaign in 28 years, with United sixth in the Premier League table and 22 points adrift of leaders Liverpool.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was named caretaker manager on Wednesday and will take charge of his first game at Cardiff, whom he managed in 2014, on Saturday evening.
And while Young is happy to see the former striker and assistant Mike Phelan return to the club, he is adamant that United’s focus remains trained on arresting their league slump.
“The main thing for us has been not to be caught up in everything and instead just concentrate on our work on the pitch and get ourselves fully prepared for this weekend’s game,” the full-back told manutd.com.
“That’s all you can do as players; be prepared and be ready for the game that we’ve got coming up.”
“It’s been a tough week, but we’ve got to move on now, move forward and concentrate on this weekend’s game. We need to get ourselves back to winning ways.”
“You go out there as a player and you want to win, play for the badge, play for this fantastic club, the best club in the world and for us now it’s about looking ahead and looking at the next couple of games we’ve got coming up.
“It’s a busy Christmas period and we want to get points on the board and start getting ourselves back up the table.”
Phelan formed part of Sir Alex Ferguson’s first-team coaching staff for 13 years, five of which as his assistant, and Young says it is refreshing to see his return.
“I’m sure Ole is excited to be back, Mike Phelan as well,” the 33-year-old explained.
“For Ole to walk back in here must feel unbelievable. The fans love him, he loves the club and it can only be a good thing for us.
“With me being one of the older heads, I [previously] worked under Mike and it’s nice to see him back on the training pitch again.”