Cleverley eyes United spot

Cleverley: Ready for step up

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Tom Cleverley has confidently declared that he is ready to play Premier League football for Manchester United.

The 20-year-old has impressed since joining Watford on loan in the summer and has bagged six goals from 13 Championship starts to date.

The versatile youngster has had experience of playing across the back-four for United but has excelled in a wide role for the Hornets this term.

Cleverley's form has seen him gain England Under 21 recognition this season and he feels he can do a job in the wide areas for the champions.

"Yeah I think I'm ready for the Premier League," he said. "I've been watching the games and I don't think United have hit their best form.

"And I look at the people playing in my best position and think, why not? I think I could step up."

Confidence

Such confidence is rarely heard from United youngsters and Cleverley hopes his goalscoring performance against Preston at weekend sent out a message to Red Devils boss Sir Alex Ferguson.

"I'm sending out a message to Manchester United and with performances like that, Watford can send out a message to the rest of the league," he added.

"We can get into the play-off mix if we keep performing like that."

Cleverley is on loan at Vicarage Road until January but manager Malky Mackay has already expressed interest in extending that deal until the end of the season.

The Basingstoke-born starlet is highly rated at the Theatre of Dreams and sparked interest from a number of Premier League outfits after a goalscoring performance in pre-season against Valencia.