Paul Pogba and Marcus Rashford both fit and available for selection; Watch Tottenham vs Man Utd live on Sky Sports on June 19
Sunday 7 June 2020 00:10, UK
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been encouraged by Manchester United's "camaraderie" in training and is confident his squad will have the right mentality when the Premier League season resumes.
United are due to face Tottenham away on June 19 - live on Sky Sports - in their first match since beating LASK 5-0 in the Europa League on March 12.
The victory in Austria stretched United's unbeaten run to 11 matches before football was suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic, but Solskjaer is confident they can continue where they left off.
"The first game is two weeks away so we need to step up the training and get an edge to our game again," the United boss told the club's official website. "Everyone knows that we will have to be at our best, have to be focused against Tottenham.
"We know it's a big game for everyone. We had Chelsea when we started the league this season so I'm confident that our players can go into the Tottenham game with that mentality of going there to play a very good game of football.
"Training has been about recapping what we did well, tweaking maybe one or two things and looking at some new ideas, but hopefully we can see a lot of what we saw towards the end before the lockdown."
After their clash against former manager Jose Mourinho's side, United welcome Sheffield United to Old Trafford on June 24 - also live on Sky Sports - before an FA Cup quarter-final at Norwich on June 27.
"We've got games coming weekend, midweek, weekend for a spell so you have to focus on ourselves and not just on that one, first game," Solskjaer added.
"I think everyone can see over the last few months how the players have behaved and dealt with the situation and how we as a club have dealt with it. The players have kept themselves fit as well, which has been great.
"The weather was fantastic when they got going in small groups and gradually now, as we've got into contact training, you can see a little bit more of the edge but also the camaraderie and team bonding.
"That's vital for me in a team. That's one of the main things, that we are a team and the team goes before anything else."
Solskjaer hopes to have a fully-fit squad to choose from for the match against Tottenham, including Paul Pogba and Marcus Rashford.
Pogba has missed most of the 2019/20 campaign with ongoing foot and ankle issues, while Rashford has been sidelined since January after suffering a stress fracture of his back against Wolves in the FA Cup.
"Paul and Marcus are back, Eric [Bailly] has been out for a long time, Scott [McTominay] was out for a long time, so we want to gel the team together again," Solskjaer said.
"We hope everybody's going to be ready for the first game. We've had time out so I don't think we can expect that those lads who've missed lots of football can last the full game.
"But now the rules have changed, we can use five subs and have nine on the bench. I think that's helpful because footballers, after being out for so long, going into competitive games will be a challenge for them and we have to look after them injury-wise and fitness-wise.
"We can't just flog one player and say to them, 'you play every game and every minute' because it might be a period when we have to rotate quite often.
"We have a big squad, a strong squad and at the moment, loads of these players can prepare for the first game and hope to play in the first game and then if you don't play in the first, you might play the second or the third."
Despite failing to challenge for the Premier League title, United are still in the hunt to win two major trophies this season - the FA Cup and Europa League - and Solskjaer is hopeful his side could end the current campaign with some silverware.
"When you get to Man United, you want to end the season with trophies, but trophies won't be what we're talking about now," the Norwegian said.
"We've got to make sure we make this short spell before next season a good one for us and if it ends up with trophies, fantastic.
"We've just got to focus on what we can control and that's our own performances. If that takes us to a final or two, it would be great."
The Premier League 2019/20 season will provisionally restart on Wednesday, June 17 and Sky, the UK's leading football broadcaster, will make 25 games available 'free to air' - including Everton vs Liverpool on the first full weekend back - for everyone in the UK to enjoy.
Sky Sports will show 64 live Premier League games when the season resumes. In addition to the 39 matches already scheduled to be broadcast exclusively live on Sky Sports before the coronavirus interruption, 25 more matches will be available on both Sky Sports Premier League and Sky's free-to-air Pick channel, allowing the whole nation to be part of the return of live sport.
To celebrate the return of the Premier League, Sky Sports will also launch a host of innovative new features and updates to give fans an even more immersive experience and share the moments live with family and friends on virtual platforms.
