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MCTOMINAY: I'M ALWAYS LEARNING
Scott McTominay says his development as a first-team player at Manchester United never stops – even when he’s not on the pitch.
The young midfielder has come of age since being promoted to Jose Mourinho’s squad this term, following his promising debut away at Arsenal at the end of last season.
McTominay, who turned 21 last week, has made six appearances so far this term – playing 90 minutes in three different competitions as well as three outings as a substitute.
He impressed once again, particularly in the second half, when making his first Premier League start of the season in Wednesday’s 1-0 win over Bournemouth – earning praise from Mourinho afterwards and was among the nominations for the club’s Man of the Match award.
Speaking to MUTV ahead of Sunday’s game away to West Bromwich Albion, McTominay feels that he is learning all the time from his fellow midfielders both on and off the pitch.
“Even when I don’t play, it’s so important to watch the likes of Nemanja Matic, Paul Pogba, Ander Herrera and Michael Carrick – people who play in my position – and study everything that they do on the pitch,” he said.
“Then, whenever you go out on the pitch, you need to emulate that and be yourself on the pitch. I thought I was doing that the other night [against Bournemouth] and, as I say, I just want to progress from here and go into the second half of the season really strong.”
On the different qualities of his team-mates, he commented: “There are lots of different styles of play and there are a lot of attacking and defensive players so that’s a really good balance to have in the team and it means the manager has some good options.”
As we head into the busy festive period, the Reds are approaching the midway point of the season and, although McTominay admits it’s been a difficult challenge to acclimatise to a new environment, he feels it’s been a great first half of the campaign for him from a personal perspective.
“Personally I would say it’s obviously been tough coming into the new group and learning the way around it but it’s also been one of the most invaluable experiences that I’ve had, coming in and training with these guys every day and getting the bits of game time that I’ve had.
“I’ve played three matches now from the start and I’ve also appeared in a few other games as well, so you just have to take it in your stride – that’s the main thing for me. Take it in my stride and keep pushing forward and working hard.”
The trip to The Hawthorns represents the start of three consecutive away games in the space of six days for the Reds – with the Carabao Cup quarter-final against Championship high-fliers Bristol City to come in midweek before next Saturday’s clash at in-form Leicester City.
But McTominay feels United can take inspiration from a similar run a couple of weeks ago, when the team overcame two tricky tests on the road at Watford and Arsenal in four days by claiming six points.
“I think we proved that when we went away to Watford and then away to Arsenal – two long away trips in a week and we managed to win,” he said.
“I think the squad is big enough and can handle these situations. Obviously we’ve had a positive record at home, and away from home we need to keep going and see where it can take us come the end of the season.”
The Reds returned to winning ways against Bournemouth in midweek after last weekend’s derby defeat to maintain the pressure on leaders Manchester City. Although the gap between the teams currently stands at 11 points, McTominay insists it’s not in the club’s DNA to give up without a fight and the team will continue to stay hot on the heels of Pep Guardiola’s side.
“That’s the main thing – keeping the pressure on, keep plugging away. We can only use that result [against Manchester City] as motivation for the end of the season and where we want to be.
"We want to be challenging at the top and we won’t give up. We’re Man United and we never will do, that’s the philosophy of the club – to keep going right until the end and that’s what we are going to do.”
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