Scott McTominay believes that the competition he now faces for a spot in the Manchester United midfield will help to drive everybody forward.

McTominay was standing out as one of United’s most important players at the start of the season and had started all but two Premier League games until he picked up a knee injury on Boxing Day against Newcastle United.

The injury would rule him out for nearly two months, allowing Nemanja Martic to step into the void and convince United to trigger a one-year extension to his contract.

Brazilian Fred has also enjoyed a brilliant campaign after settling at the club and proved his importance to the team in McTominay’s absence.

McTominay made his comeback from injury before football was suspended due the coronavirus outbreak, but his place in the starting XI is no longer guaranteed.

Yet the 23-year-old has welcomed the challenge to get back into the side and believes competition is vital for the team’s success.

“Nemanja and Fred were playing really, really well and obviously that competition is good for me,” McTominay told teammate Daniel James on an episode of The Huddle.

“That’s what you need in football. You need that competition to push everybody forwards and that’s what creates a successful team as well.

“So I feel like the way squad’s going at the minute, with everybody coming back, once we do get back it will be exciting.”

The injury was McTominay’s first major lay-off since breaking into the United first team and he has admitted that it was a struggle being away from his teammates.

“Whenever I was injured I loved getting in early and knowing that I was a step ahead so I was always in early, leaving a two, three o’clock, so you got long days when you’re injured,” the Scot added.

“Mentally it’s not easy because you know that you’re going to the training ground for five plus hours. So it’s like you’ve got to put the work into get back to a proper level of fitness when you do get back.

“Obviously for me it was good because the manager kept on to me saying, ‘keep going, keep going, keep pushing the work and we need you to come back.'”

SOURCE:- allfootballapp