Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer conceded his side were much more likely to face a scrap for a top-four Premier League finish than challenge Manchester City for the title after a frustrating 0-0 draw at Crystal Palace on Wednesday.
United lacked spark on a foggy evening at Selhurst Park and having missed several chances in the first half, they were on the back foot after the break and were fortunate to come away with a point.
Solskjaer criticised his team after a lacklustre performance left second-placed United 14 points behind runaway leaders City ahead of the Manchester derby on Sunday.
"It's not good as you know if you want to move up the table, you need to win," the Norwegian told the BBC.
"You have to earn the right, you have to win tackles, you have to fight you have to play passes better as we kept giving the ball away.
"We go into every game thinking we need to win and we want to win. We just have to concentrate on ourselves. We know we're in a fight to be in the top four so every game is important."
It was a third successive 0-0 draw for United in all competitions, following a goalless stalemate at Chelsea on Sunday and against Real Sociedad in the Europa League last Thursday.
Keeping a third clean sheet in a row did not impress Solskjaer, who stressed his side lacked bite up front to turn draws into wins.
"Of course, it's a concern," he said. "When you have three clean sheets in a row, that will help you win games but we haven't produced the quality. We just have to find a spark again and try to win games.
"A couple of times when we had the tempo in the right positions, we created decent opportunities but I don't think we deserved anything more than one point."
Meanwhile, Solskjaer said he may not allow Bruno Fernandes to travel overseas for Portugal's matches during the international break if the midfielder is required to quarantine on his return to England.
Fernandes could face 10 days in isolation on his return from international duty because Portugal falls under the United Kingdom's Covid-19 travel 'red list'.
World soccer governing body Fifa has said clubs can refuse to release players if they are required to quarantine for more than five days on their return.
"We have not sat down and made a proper call on that one but it doesn't make sense if you lose your player for 10 days' isolation," Solskjaer said.
"We are the ones paying the players ... Fifa have given the rule that they don't have to be released, so it is going to be a hard call to make to let them play in red-list countries."
Portugal are scheduled to face Azerbaijan, Serbia and Luxembourg on March 24, 27 and 30 respectively in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers.
Fernandes could miss United's Premier League home game against Brighton & Hove Albion (April 3) and away game at Tottenham Hotspur (April 10) if he has to isolate for 10 days on returning from Portugal.
"I want Bruno ready for Brighton and hopefully we will be through in Europe and against Tottenham after that break," Solskjaer added.
Earlier, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp echoed Solskjaer's thoughts, with the Merseyside club likely to lose Brazilian players Alisson Becker, Fabinho and Roberto Firmino and Portugal forward Diogo Jota for the same reason.
- Reuters
Manchester United in battle for top-four finish, says Solskjaer
Image: Adrian Dennis - Pool/Getty Images
Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer conceded his side were much more likely to face a scrap for a top-four Premier League finish than challenge Manchester City for the title after a frustrating 0-0 draw at Crystal Palace on Wednesday.
United lacked spark on a foggy evening at Selhurst Park and having missed several chances in the first half, they were on the back foot after the break and were fortunate to come away with a point.
Solskjaer criticised his team after a lacklustre performance left second-placed United 14 points behind runaway leaders City ahead of the Manchester derby on Sunday.
"It's not good as you know if you want to move up the table, you need to win," the Norwegian told the BBC.
"You have to earn the right, you have to win tackles, you have to fight you have to play passes better as we kept giving the ball away.
"We go into every game thinking we need to win and we want to win. We just have to concentrate on ourselves. We know we're in a fight to be in the top four so every game is important."
It was a third successive 0-0 draw for United in all competitions, following a goalless stalemate at Chelsea on Sunday and against Real Sociedad in the Europa League last Thursday.
Keeping a third clean sheet in a row did not impress Solskjaer, who stressed his side lacked bite up front to turn draws into wins.
"Of course, it's a concern," he said. "When you have three clean sheets in a row, that will help you win games but we haven't produced the quality. We just have to find a spark again and try to win games.
"A couple of times when we had the tempo in the right positions, we created decent opportunities but I don't think we deserved anything more than one point."
Meanwhile, Solskjaer said he may not allow Bruno Fernandes to travel overseas for Portugal's matches during the international break if the midfielder is required to quarantine on his return to England.
Fernandes could face 10 days in isolation on his return from international duty because Portugal falls under the United Kingdom's Covid-19 travel 'red list'.
World soccer governing body Fifa has said clubs can refuse to release players if they are required to quarantine for more than five days on their return.
"We have not sat down and made a proper call on that one but it doesn't make sense if you lose your player for 10 days' isolation," Solskjaer said.
"We are the ones paying the players ... Fifa have given the rule that they don't have to be released, so it is going to be a hard call to make to let them play in red-list countries."
Portugal are scheduled to face Azerbaijan, Serbia and Luxembourg on March 24, 27 and 30 respectively in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers.
Fernandes could miss United's Premier League home game against Brighton & Hove Albion (April 3) and away game at Tottenham Hotspur (April 10) if he has to isolate for 10 days on returning from Portugal.
"I want Bruno ready for Brighton and hopefully we will be through in Europe and against Tottenham after that break," Solskjaer added.
Earlier, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp echoed Solskjaer's thoughts, with the Merseyside club likely to lose Brazilian players Alisson Becker, Fabinho and Roberto Firmino and Portugal forward Diogo Jota for the same reason.
- Reuters
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