Chris Smalling has warned his Manchester United teammates they must not waste the good start they had under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
United went on an unbeaten run of 11 games when the Norwegian took over from the sacked Jose Mourinho in December, giving him the record for most successful start to a managerial reign at the club.
However, United have lost three out of their last four in all competitions and up next is a clash against Barcelona in the Champions League quarter final first leg.
And Smalling, who has become a regular starter for Solskjaer, has warned his teammates they must keep up their hard work until the very end of the season.
“Before Ole took over, it [finishing in the top four] was something we wanted, but it was so far off,” the centre back told Talk Sport.
“The fact that we’ve worked so hard over these months and to be within touching distance – now is where the real hard work starts and where the real pressure is.
"Ultimately those first few months, we were so far off that we had nothing to lose. Whereas now, we’ve really climbed that table and closed that points gap, so we just need to carry it on and make sure that these last few months weren’t wasted."
Solskjaer's most impressive result was the comeback in Paris against French giants Paris Saint-Germain and Smalling spoke about never writing off a United side.
“Not just this season, in previous seasons, we go through different blips and certain people can write off Mancheser United," he added.
“But we’ve shown that togetherness and that fighting spirit, especially since Ole’s come in. I think we’re ready to go for the last few weeks of the season to make sure this second-half of the season was a success and it’s not just a good middle.”
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