Football
Rob Dawson, Correspondent 4y

Manchester United concerned with performances, not league table - Solskjaer

MANCHESTER, England -- Ole Gunnar Solskjaer says the league table is "not the biggest concern" even after he watched his Manchester United team draw 2-2 with Aston Villa to slip closer to the relegation places than the top four.

United are ninth in the Premier League, six points off 18th and eight points adrift of Chelsea in fourth, after managing only a point against Villa at Old Trafford on Sunday.

"I wouldn't have sat here and talked about us being fifth if we had got that one goal extra, so the league table at this point is not the biggest concern because it is so tight," Solskjaer told a news conference.

"I just need to make sure that we get performances and get three or four performances after each other -- and results.

"What I can say is so far we have had the lead in so many games and we haven't been able to win those games, six or seven times we've been 1-0 up, or 2-1 or 3-2 like last week [against Sheffield United].

"We should be better at seeing those games into wins."

United came back from 1-0 down to lead Villa 2-1 before Tyrone Mings scored an equaliser for the visitors, who had arrived at Old Trafford with the worst away record in the league.

It was the third time in eight days Solskjaer's team had squandered winning positions after the draw at Sheffield United and defeat against Astana.

"I think there's loads of evidence these boys are closer to winning games than losing games and we have to tip those margins in our favour," said Solskjaer.

"The first half wasn't good enough. We're disappointed in that because all the boys stayed here while the young boys and us went over to Kazakhstan, so we should have been coming out of the traps quicker. First half wasn't good enough, second half was what we want to see."

After the disappointing draw with Villa, United face former boss Jose Mourinho and Tottenham on Wednesday before heading to the Etihad Stadium to play Manchester City on Saturday.

Scott McTominay and Paul Pogba were both absent against Villa, but Solskjaer is not ruling out the pair featuring against Spurs.

"We've still got two days," he said.

"We need to look at everyone here as well. Let's see. Hopefully we can see one of them on the pitch, but they're working hard behind the scenes."

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