Luke Shaw has admitted he has enjoyed the praise he's received for his excellent Manchester United form this season.
The United left-back has arguably been the club's best player this term, alongside playmaker Bruno Fernandes, and has opened up on his improved displays.
He spoke to adidas about his desire to get forward more on the overlap and create chances in the final third. Shaw, 25, has notched six assists this season for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side.
He said: "I think a lot of people are thinking that I was holding back, but I knew what I could do and I'm feeling good with creating stuff. Obviously my target with each game is to win the game for the team, whatever I can do.
"Now I'm loving going forward and creating for the team. I haven't been able to talk about something like this and be sort of praised for stuff like this.
"I think people hopefully are starting to realise I'm helping the team out more, which is a nice confidence boost."
Shaw joked that he would love to rival Fernandes' returns in terms of goals and assists — and revealed a conversation with the Portuguese about how he scores even when he's playing poorly.
"We do talk a bit, but honestly the guy's numbers are unbelievable, what he's doing and how he's doing it," Shaw added. "I said to him 'Bruno, I'll be honest, you weren't great [against Real Sociedad] but you scored two goals. I just don't know how you do it!'
"I think people in football understand the game and how important that player is, who doesn't get many assists or goals, but a lot of the outside world is all about stats. It's understandable because they watch it and they want to see those things, but you've just got to deal with it."
On his own record in front of goal, Shaw added: "I would love the fans to be back so bad, because I'm missing the noise. Hopefully I can score soon because I want the fans to celebrate."
