Ole Gunnar Solskjaer believes that third place is still within Manchester United’s grasp as his side aim to close down Mauricio Pochettino’s Tottenham Hotspur.
Caretaker Solskjaer hopes to be named United’s permanent manager at the end of the season and knows achieving a top-four – or a top-three – finish would help his cause.
Finishing behind leaders Liverpool and champions Manchester City suddenly appears possible too after back-to-back defeats for third-place Tottenham.
United are five points behind Tottenham and their manager Pochettino is Solskjaer’s main rival for the Old Trafford job.
Solskjaer sees no reason why his side cannot build on their 11-game unbeaten run in the league under his management and topple Pochettino’s men.
“It’s important to look up and upwards. Of course the results have meant that we can challenge Tottenham now for that spot,” he said.
“It’s us, Chelsea, Arsenal. We’re all chasing them. It’s going to be an exciting race and every single game is going to be very important. You need to make sure tip the balance in your way.
“As I said before, we’re five points behind Tottenham and there’s 10 games to go. We’ve definitely got a chance to move up the table so we’ll do our best to get up there.
Solskjaer added: “Every game is a big chance for the players to say that we want to stay and it’s the same for everyone around the coaching staff.
“We want to improve everyone, that’s our job. The better we do the bigger the chance to be here.”
When asked if he hopes to still be at Old Trafford come August, Solskjaer said: “Everyone knows I’d like to stay of course but that’s not decided until the end of the season.”
If Solskjaer is not appointed as United’s permanent successor to Jose Mourinho, he will return to ‘parent club’ Molde in his native Norway.
