Luke Shaw revealed that Manchester United's players were intent on making a better start to a game before taking on Man City.
United had the upper hand in Saturday evening's Manchester derby against City but missed a couple of decent chances, before the game lost tempo with both teams content with a 0-0 draw.
It means Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side have now gone five games unbeaten in the Premier League and remain a point ahead of their Manchester rivals in the table.
And Shaw told Sky Sports after the game that United spoke about their recent habit of starting games slowly, in the knowledge they could be punished by City if they did so again at Old Trafford.
"I'd be lying if I said we haven't started slowly the last three of four games," said the United left-back, who impressed.
"Maybe most of the games this season we haven't started brightly. We said before the game 'we need to start bright' because if we don't against Man City, we could be looking at three or four-nil down after 30 minutes.
"So we started better but I still feel we could push more and start brighter in more games. We need to keep our heads up.
"I would say it was very tight, a very even game. We made it difficult for them at times, they couldn't get the normal rhythm going. Either team could have taken it towards the end.
"I felt, especially in the first half, we lacked something, that final third ball. Bruno a couple of times, passes that he would have normally have made."
Shaw believes the draw shows United are improving under Solskjaer as their hectic schedule continues in the league over the next few weeks.
"A point is better than none," he added. "I felt we could have taken the three points at the end, but we showed tonight we're improving because in the past it's been more dominated by Man City.
"But we know there's more to come from us and that we need to improve, get our heads down and work hard."
