MCTOMINAY DETERMINED TO BUILD ON DEBUT
Scott McTominay enjoyed a fabulous end to the season, coming on as a substitute during the Premier League clash at Arsenal before making his full Manchester United debut in the final-day win over Crystal Palace.
It was also his first senior appearance for any club, as he has yet to spend any time away from United on loan. The same is true for Josh Harrop, Demi Mitchell and Angel Gomes who also made their bows against Palace.
It came at the conclusion of a difficult campaign for the Reserves but McTominay looked assured and determined for Jose Mourinho's men. Not that there weren't butterflies in the stomach before running out at Old Trafford in front of a capacity crowd last month.
"In the changing room, I was a little bit nervous but you're only human aren't you?" he told ManUtd.com. "You're going to be nervous making your full debut at Old Trafford but, once you get out there, it's just another game at the end of the day.
"You play your normal game, being relaxed and composed. One of the big things in my game is getting about the pitch, making tackles, passing, running and doing everything a midfield player should do. I really enjoyed it as it was a very good experience.
"Normally, you see lads go out on loan and have maybe one or two seasons out there to get a taste of men's football so to be thrown in there and do as well as the young lads did meant there was a really good feeling for everybody. It was a really good day for the Academy. These are the experiences to remember and reflect on during the off season as you try to come back as a better player. You've got to keep working as hard as you can and the moment you stop is when things can go bad for you."
The 20-year-old was shifted into attack due to a shortage of strikers earlier in the season at Reserves level and feels this helped develop his game. However, the most important aspect for McTominay is purely getting matches under his belt, particularly after missing long periods of time due to growth issues in his youth.
"One of the things in football you have to adapt to is a change in manager," he said, referring to last year's departure of United Reserves coach Warren Joyce. "It's completely out of your control and you have to learn as much as possible about a different way of training and playing.
"We had a tough period but we've all come through that now and are all better players for it. It was a bit of a learning curve but it's what you have to do in football - learn as much as you possibly can and progress, which we did towards the end of the season.
"It now feels a long time ago that I was playing up front but it was something I was saying to a few of the lads. You have to do these things like playing out of position and adapting to a different role to where you're going to play in the future. Hopefully, it will benefit you in a long career.
"I learned, whenever I play in midfield, how the striker wants the ball. Sometimes, when you play up there, you want it a certain way and it helps when you know what the strikers want, like how to jump and the second balls. It can only be a positive thing, nothing bad can possibly come out of playing out of position. It's what you need to do because all managers want you to show versatility.
"Nicky [Butt] has been brilliant and everything is like it was under Joycey, you have to work hard and that's the principle of this football club and why so many young players come through and develop. It's about working hard, staying positive and keeping on going, to try to get in the first team.
"It was a difficult schedule in the Reserves, playing one week and then resting for three weeks, and it's difficult to get a run of games for your confidence and match sharpness. You can do all the training but playing matches is the most important thing for young people. That's one thing I've learned over the last couple of years - the one main thing you need to progress is to play as many games as you possibly can at the highest possible level and show the manager you can be trusted in the first team."
Having had a couple of outings for Mourinho's side, McTominay's appetite has been well and truly whetted and he has the same goal he outlined way back in September.
"That's the thing with this football club," he stated. "It's built around young players coming through the ranks. Look at Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard, they're now regular first-team players and that's what I need to aspire to be.
"I did an interview with you at the start of the season and spoke about Marcus and Jesse. They are still an inspiration to me, the ones I look up to. I want to be over there playing with them, training every day and emulating what they're doing in the first team.
"I had a little taste of first-team football against Palace and obviously that was the highlight of my season. Next season, I want to be in and around the first team and pushing as hard as I possibly can to get into that group and show the manager I can be trusted to play in those games.
"I am more hungry than ever at this moment in time. I've had a little taste and just want more and more. I will keep pushing for it every single day and hopefully can become a regular in the future. I definitely still need to be playing games with the Reserves, that's one thing I've spoken about before as game time is vitally important.
"At this age group, if you're not playing games, it's more or less impossible to improve by just training alone. The one thing you need to be doing is playing those matches and hopefully pushing on."
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