After a quite appalling start to their Premier League season, the importance of Man United’s fixture against Newcastle hasn’t been lost on anyone.
Although talk of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer potentially being sacked if the Red Devils don’t win is more than a little premature, it’s clear that results need to turn in their favour.
The players have to pick themselves up, dust themselves down and work though the bad patch, and Marcus Rashford has issued a rallying cry to his United team-mates.
“This is the opportunity to bounce back. Newcastle is a big game anyway, but this is an even bigger game because of the last result,” he said to Sky Sports, cited by Sky Sports.
“When you lose a game you want another one as soon as possible, you want to get that winning feeling back among the squad. Not only do we want to win, we want to win in a way that we can be proud of.
“We want to work hard, not only for ourselves by for the guy on our left and right and do it as a team. We want to get three points together and then move onto the next game, that’s the way it’s got to be.
“It has to change, if it doesn’t then it is not what Manchester United are about.”
The performance levels against the Magpies need to be at a much higher level if they are to come away with all three points from St. James Park.
Losses are an accepted part of football, but it’s the manner of some of the performances that will get under the skin of United’s long-suffering supporters.
With the resumption of the Champions League beginning next week, a morale boosting win would be just the ticket.