Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has revealed how pleased he has been with Anthony Martial’s output in training and has backed the Manchester United striker to recover his best form after a series of below-par performances.
The Frenchman has found the back of the net just four times in the Premier League this season, while he has just seven goals to his name in all competitions.
Martial hasn't been at his best of late but United boss Solskjaer doesn’t have any concerns about the forward’s quality, backing him to come good ahead of an important trip to Chelsea in the Premier League.
What did Solskjaer say?
The United boss was asked what they were looking for from their No.9 and told reporters: "Anthony knows what we want and he is working really hard to do well for the team. That’s what’s pleasing me every day in training.
"He’s not going to sit down and wait for things to happen. He knows he will have to make it happen himself and we encourage him and coach him, as we know that he’s got this quality and class.
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"Everyone goes through a difficult patch at times and Anthony, I think we saw tonight (Thursday), is working harder, and that’s the main thing."
What is Martial's record this season?
Martial has four goals and three assists in 20 appearances in the league this season. He is averaging a goal every 347 minutes in England's top flight, a huge dip compared to last season's tally, when he ended the campaign with 17 league goals and an average of one every 155 minutes.
A further two goals in the Champions League and one in the Carabao Cup have taken his tally to seven for the season. He ended the last campaign with a career-best 23 in all competitions.
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Will he start against Chelsea?
Solskjaer hopes that Edinson Cavani will be available for the clash at Stamford Bridge on Sunday having missed the last three games through injury, while Marcus Rashford, who came off the bench for the second half of the goalless draw against Real Sociedad, is expected to start.
If Cavani is passed fit, and with Rashford a sure starter, Solskjaer will likely have to choose between playing Mason Greenwood or Martial as the third attacker in his starting XI.
What else did Solskjaer say?
United are looking to keep up the pressure on Manchester City at the top of the table with Pep Guardiola’s side currently 10 points clear.
Discussing the title race, he added: "We just have to focus and tick one game off at a time. As you say the three games are massive. We’ve got Chelsea, who are just behind us, and we’ve got City, away, who are in front of us.
"Of course, we can’t let them run further away if we have ambitions of catching them and we can’t give Chelsea too much hope to catch us either.
"Every game is important and now until the international break will be a big period of six or seven games. We always say look at April and May to see how we are then, so let’s get to the international break and then we can focus on the run-in."