Red Devils Mid-fielder Nemanja Matic has revealed Manchester United’s players discussed the importance of shifting their focus to Wednesday’s game against West Ham after their FA Cup humbling at the hands of Chelsea.
United was trashed in London as Chelsea secured a 3-1 victory, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s changes and tactical tweaks backfiring against Frank Lampard’s side.
It leaves United with only a top-four finish and the Europa League to play for this season and they face West Ham in a vital league game on Wednesday.
Matic spoke to MUTV after the defeat and revealed United’s players spoke about the need to quickly move on and focus on the crucial Premier League game.
“We are disappointed of course because we lost,” said the Serbian midfielder. “We wanted that final but Chelsea scored three goals, they used their chances and deserve to be in the final.
“Our focus is on Wednesday against West Ham, so we have to win that game to be in the Champions League. From this moment we will focus on that and we spoke a bit in the changing room about that.
“In three days we have another challenge and we have to recover as soon as possible.”
Matic admitted that United must improve from their poor showing against Chelsea and hopes the top-four race will precipitate a reaction in the next game.
He added: “Every three days we play, so we have to analyse this game for sure. But all our focus needs to be on West Ham on Wednesday.
“Our target is to be the top four and we’ll do our best. We always want to win but this is football. Sometimes you don’t play well and this can happen, but in the future, we cannot allow conceding three goals and I’m sure we’ll learn from this.”
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