Scott McTominay has admitted that he was pleased with how he dealt with being handed the captaincy during Manchester United's recent FA Cup third round win over Watford.
The 24-year-old midfielder was named as United captain by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer for the first time in his career for the 1-0 victory over the Hornets last month - a game in which his first-half goal was the deciding factor.
McTominay has been touted as a future United captain, given his rise through the academy and natural leadership on the pitch.
And the Scotland international has now spoken about how the decision to give him the armband came about.
“He [Solskjaer] didn’t really say much. He just said ‘captain tomorrow’ and looked at me. I just smiled; I didn’t want to let off too much emotion but I was so, so pleased,” the midfielder said, speaking to the official matchday programme ahead of the Southampton clash on Tuesday.
“For the manager, I presume every decision he makes with me and other players is a test. It’s not just ‘oh I’ll give him the captaincy for no reason’, it’s a test. Everything in life is a test and you have to pass those tests.
“It’s important to really show people that you can be an example at this football club and not let things go to your head. With something like the captaincy, it would be easy to then start doing things differently and shouting and screaming and not playing how you normally would, but that doesn’t make any difference to me.
“Whenever I’m on the pitch with H [Maguire] I feel like there are 11 captains on the pitch who need to be vocal and leaders as well.”
McTominay has been a near ever-present for United this season, featuring in 18 of 21 Premier League games so far.
And the midfielder believes making small personal improvements to his game has been key to his consistency.
“I think every game is a chance to improve," he added. "Every game at this football club is hugely scrutinised in every detail.
“For me, it’s about doing my best every time I play and wanting to improve all the time and working with the manager and the coaches.
“That’s about it for me, I don’t really dive too much into form and different things like that. If the team is winning and you’re consistently playing to the best of your ability and you’re always looking to improve, then that’s a good season for me in terms of numbers and statistics.
“I find people get too caught up in ‘oh he made this many tackles, or he made this many interceptions'. As a player, you know when you’re playing well and you know when other people are playing well.
“That ‘eye’ test is the best form of judging football players and just forgetting statistics.
“I can’t remember many games when there hasn’t been 11 players who haven’t played well and it’s about improving on that.”
