Manchester United midfielder Ander Herrera has revealed that Jose Mourinho’s side are preparing for a long-term target of winning the Community Shield against Leicester City on August 7.
The Community Shield is held between the winners the Premier League and the FA Cup of the previous season. The Red Devils defeated Crystal Palace to lift the FA Cup, while the Foxes won the league in a dramatic fashion. United will face Claudio Ranieri’s side and Herrera has admitted that his teammates are working hard to be fit to face the Premier League champions at the Wembley.
“We are a team and we all want to be fit as soon as possible,” Herrera told MUTV, as quoted by United’s official website.
“That is why we are working so hard in these days. Just yesterday, we trained two times so you can feel it on the pitch but, of course, we want to be ready for Leicester and we want to win the first title of the season. So that is the most important thing, when you play real games.”
Herrera started for the 20-time English champions in their 4-1 pre-season defeat to Borussia Dortmund in Shanghai, China. It was the United’s second pre-season fixture after their 2-0 win over Wigan Athletic.
On the other hand, the Bundesliga outfit had played four matches prior to their clash against United. The Spanish midfielder has cited that Dortmund had an advantage of playing more matches, which helped them to beat the Red Devils in Shanghai.
“They are a very good team and they have already played five games,” the former Athletic Bilbao explained.
“That is one of the most important things in football, when you have already played games, you are fitter and you are better. But we have no excuses. We are Man United, we shouldn’t lose and we want to win every game. But, this pre-season, we want to put minutes in our legs and I think we can be satisfied but, of course, Man United never wants to lose.
“When you have played five games you can say that you arrive one second before the opponent. It is a very important thing, but we don’t want to make excuses. They are a very good team, they played fantastically and we missed some chances. But I have said before, they just arrived one second later. But I think we are improving, we are building a fantastic team and we are optimistic, of course.”
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