Ole Gunnar Solskjaer says Manchester United's position in the Premier League is more important than the prospect of winning a trophy.
United have not won a trophy since the Europa League under Jose Mourinho in 2017, but remain in that competition as well as the FA Cup.
Solskjaer's side face AC Milan tomorrow, for a place in the Europa League quarter-finals, after drawing 1-1 at Old Trafford in the first leg. United then travel to Leicester on Sunday in the FA Cup
Although Solskjaer understands the desire of United fans to end their four-year wait for a trophy, he claimed the true test of a side's progress is found in their league position, rather than by potentially winning a cup.
Asked about United's four-year trophy drought, Solskjaer said: "I’ve been here for two and a half of those years and coming in, as I’ve said so many times, I felt a big rebuild had to be made.
"In the league position you see if there’s any progress and, for me, that’s always the bread and butter of the season, that you see how capable you are of coping with ups and downs.
"Any cup competition can give you a trophy, but sometimes it’s more of an ego thing from other managers and clubs to finally win something.
"But we need to see progress and if we perform well enough the trophies will end up at the club again.
"It’s not like a trophy will say that we’re back, no. It’s the gradual progression of being in and around the top of the league and the consistency and the odd trophies.
"But sometimes a cup competition can hide the fact you’re still struggling a little bit.
"Every manager wants to win every game and we want to fight on every front, then it comes to a point in the season when you can’t win this or can’t achieve this success, and sometimes you might sacrifice the league position to get a cup run towards the end.
" I haven’t been here and felt we can downgrade any games yet. We need to try and win every single game and every player needs to cope to learn with all the pressures and the standard and expectations.
"You’ll end up with trophies if you’re consistent enough anyway and sometimes lucky enough."
