After an underwhelming season at Manchester United, midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin said on Friday he will fight for his place and wanted to prove his worth by not repeating the mistakes committed last year.
The 26-year-old was disappointed to be an unused substitute for France throughout the Euro 2016 campaign, but he is now focused on earning a place with United under new manager Jose Mourinho.
"I'm going to fight for my place every day and will see what is going to be. But, of course, I want to play. Like I said, I'm hungrier after last season, it was not the season I expected and I want to prove myself," Schneiderlin told Manchester United TV.
"I want to work hard. I don't want to go through that spell again. I want to work hard to be very good this season so, yes, now I just want to play and to enjoy it."
"Every player wants to play but with competition you improve. With quality players, you improve every time so, yes, I'm going to give my best and after, I always say, it's the manager's choice which is the best pair he wants to play or the best midfield three he wants to put in," he added.
Schneiderlin made his first appearance of the new era by starting against Galatasaray in a warm-up match recently before coming off the bench at half-time during star striker Wayne Rooney's testimonial match.
Speaking on his fitness and match sharpness, Schneiderlin said he is fit and will improve as the weeks go on.
"I'm feeling good. I had a short break after the Euros. It was 15 days. I didn't lose too much fitness, which is quite good to start the season. I didn't play a lot in the Euros so I didn't lose a lot of energy, even if the training was intense. I feel great, even if know I still have two days before an important game, and I will improve as the weeks go on."
"The thing you lose the most is obviously the sharpness and the feeling of the ball. I don't think I lost too much in my endurance. What you lose more is the speed and sharpness, two to three metres on the velocity."
"After, it's getting the feeling with the ball again and that touch. Everything is coming slowly to start with but, after training, we do some sessions to improve the velocity and the sharpness," the midfielder concluded.
--IANS
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