Watch Manchester United vs Manchester City in the Carabao Cup semi-final on Wednesday on Sky Sports Main Event & Sky Sports Football from 7pm; kick-off at 7:45pm; United level on points with Liverpool at opt of Premier League
Tuesday 5 January 2021 20:52, UK
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer believes Manchester United have improved "immensely" since their three semi-final defeats last season as his side prepare to host Manchester City in the Carabao Cup last four on Wednesday, live on Sky Sports.
United are in good form heading into the one-legged semi-final at Old Trafford, having won eight of their past 10 Premier League games.
The run has moved them level with leaders Liverpool, and United could go top with their game in hand if they draw or beat Burnley next Tuesday before they then travel to Anfield on January 17.
But first, Solskjaer is focused on the immediate task of beating City to reach April's final, and the Norwegian admits his United side are in a confident mood and have "no excuses" as they look to brush off the disappointment of semi-final exits in the Carabao Cup, FA Cup and Europa League last season.
Solskjaer said: "The next game is always important. Of course the semi-final is a chance to get to the final and get your hands on a trophy in the next round. For this team it would be a very, very big step, getting your hands on a trophy.
"We've developed a lot in the last six, 12 months, from the last semi in the Carabao Cup. It's not just learning to win semis, we've also earned the right to feel we can go all the way.
"With our performances we are confident, we're going into the game in good form, so there's no excuses.
"You play football to win trophies, even though when you win that trophy you move on to the next one. It gives you the hunger to get more. The squad is focused, we're ready to give it a go. We've prepared well for this game."
Asked about what he has learned from the three semi-final defeats, he added: "When you get to a semi you've done a lot of good work to get to a semi-final. Naturally you play against better and better opposition. I think we've improved immensely even since [the Europa League semi-final] in August.
"It's a step closer to get to the final. It's easy to say 'Have we learned?', but it's not about learned, it's about some fine margins in those semi-finals.
"When you win games of football, you don't think about whether it's a semi-final, a league game, or a quarter-final, you just think it's this game and you want to win it."
Victor Lindelof is fit again after a back problem, but Edinson Cavani will be missing (suspended) alongside long-term absentee Phil Jones.
Solskjaer said he was "disappointed" to be without Cavani, who was banned for three games and fined £100,000 over a racially offensive term used in his Instagram story, but hopes his side are fresh having not place since Friday's win over Aston Villa.
Solskjaer said: "We're disappointed not having Edinson [Cavani] involved. He and Phil Jones, who has been out for a long time, are the only two not available for selection which is a good position to be in.
"We've had four days after Villa, hopefully we've got more fresh legs. It's a difficult season but I think we'll benefit from the rotations we've made.
"You could see that with City against Chelsea, the amount of fresh legs and sharpness they played with after the break they had. It showed. That was a quality game, physically one of the more intense games there has been this season, I don't think there's any surprise there because they had a few days extra to prepare."
After United promoted former player Darren Fletcher to their first-team coaching staff, Solskjaer explained the thinking behind the reshuffle after Mark Dempsey took on a role with the club's academy last month.
"[Fletcher] has got the Man United DNA, there was a spot open because Mark Dempsey has moved to the academy, we felt he was so valuable there," Solskjaer said.
"Then this opening came. Darren has been away from the club a few years but then he's come back with the Under-16s, and with his experience of being here through both successful and difficult times, we felt it was the right time for Darren to come in and give us that input.
"I think it's important we bring in ex-players that have been somewhere else. I've been somewhere else after having worked under Mick Phelan, Sir Alex [Ferguson] and Carlos [Queiroz], that we know one way of coaching, but they've been at different clubs that have got different ideas. Fletcher put his ideas and thought they'll improve us in the backroom staff."
Solskjaer also said it was a "privilege" football was able to carry on after it was confirmed elite sport can continue behind closed doors during a new national lockdown in England.
"Of course it's a hard and difficult situation for everyone," Solskjaer said. "Last year, since March until now it has been a testing time for everyone. We're privileged to be able to play football under the protocols we're working under, hopefully we can continue.
"Mentally for many it would be a release to watch games now, especially in full lockdown again.
"We know we have to work hard to stay within the rules and guidelines, we're doing our best to keep the show on the road."
Gary Neville says United's "game-changers" have propelled the club back up the league and, while performance consistency remains elusive, confidence is building among Solskjaer's squad.
Two months on from a demoralising defeat at home to Arsenal, which left them in 15th, United moved level on points with Premier League leaders Liverpool on Friday with a 2-1 win over Aston Villa.
The victory was United's eighth in their past 10 league games since that loss to the Gunners and Sky Sports pundit Neville has put the remarkable turn around down to the individual qualities of players at the club.
However, while the team still struggle in their play at times, Neville says "something is growing" in the camp and there is exciting progress being made, with United's mouth-watering trip to Liverpool on January 17, live on Sky Sports, looming.
"It was a big, big win for United," he said on The Gary Neville Podcast. "I'm so looking forward to that [Liverpool game]. Not because I'm here thinking United can go to Anfield and win, but because United have become competitive out of nowhere.
"I remember sitting at Old Trafford after that Manchester derby [goalless draw], sat with Roy Keane and Micah Richards, saying that Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham were far ahead of the two Manchester clubs at this moment in time.
"If you'd have said at the start of the season, or even five weeks ago, that United would be level with Liverpool, I'd have said no chance, that can't happen. That shows how unusual this season is."
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