Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has made his feelings about Manchester United's upcoming fixture list very clear to the Premier League, and is unhappy with his side's schedule.
The United boss has expressed his disappointment about the fact his team have been set three games in the space of five days — starting this afternoon (Sunday) against Aston Villa.
But Solskjaer insisted United would not feel sorry for themselves and has backed his squad to come good despite the adversity.
He had previously promised sweeping changes to his team across the three games this week, against Villa, Leicester and Liverpool and said the knock-on effect for the top four race below United is “everyone else’s problem”. United should secure Champions League qualification for themselves soon.
The Liverpool game was rearranged after being postponed due to mass protests outside Old Trafford last Sunday and Solskjaer admitted it's left him in a tough position.
“You’ve just got to go game by game, one step at a time," Solskjaer said, addressing the issue with MUTV. "We’ve been handed a very bad hand. The cards are not very good because the intensity of the Premier League is so, so high and the quality is so high.
"We’ve just got to make sure we tick one off at a time. But the players are ready for it, I’m ready for it, the coaches are ready for it.
"It’s a challenge we’ll take head on. It’s not like we’ll just throw the toys out of the pram and feel sorry for ourselves. That’s not the way we are. But I had to express how unhappy I am with how they can risk injuries for the players. That’s what I’ve got to look after. I’ve got to look after them.”
Solskjaer remains confident United can accrue enough points to wrap up Champions League qualification and a second place finish in the Premier League as well.
He added: “Yeah, we’ll wrap that up. I’m very confident we can get the results we need. Of course, other teams can get the results but we’ll take one game at a time and the Villa one is one we can win if we play well.”
