BAMBA HAILS UNITED CHARACTER

FREEVIEW: SOL BAMBA PRE FOREST 4.2.16

The United captain looks ahead to the visit of Nottingham Forest...

Sol Bamba has hailed the character of the United squad after returning to winning ways in recent weeks, with the club captain refusing to write off the season at this stage.

United go into Saturday’s Elland Road clash with Nottingham Forest on the back of three games unbeaten, despite having seen their strong run throughout December brought to a halt with consecutive defeats away to Ipswich Town and Sheffield Wednesday last month.

Those losses on the road dealt a blow to United’s chances of mounting a push into the top half of the table and climbing towards the play-off places during the second half of the season, but recent results have seen the side looking up again.

“I think these results have shown the character of the group,” said Bamba.

“It’s all about how you respond after a defeat and I think we’ve done that very well – all credit to the team.

“We have to be professional in these games ahead. We want to win as many games as possible and see where we can go.

“At the minute, we’re just playing each game and seeing what happens.

“We’re looking forward to Saturday. Forest are a good team and their fans travel in numbers as well.

“We’re expecting a good game.”

Bamba returned to the starting line-up for last Saturday’s Emirates FA Cup Fourth Round victory over Bolton Wanderers, having found himself sidelined with injury before struggling to reclaim his place in the team due to the form of Liam Cooper and Giuseppe Bellusci in defence.

“Competition for places is always good,” he said. “I always want to play, but that’s part of football.

“It’s the manager’s decision and I have to show him on the training ground that he can count on me.

“Peppe and Liam have been doing absolutely brilliantly for the team and they’ve deserved to play.

“When the manager decides who’s playing, we just have to get on with it and support the team.”

The former Ivory Coast international was forced off in the closing stages of the 2-1 win at the Macron Stadium last weekend, but Bamba is back in contention to face 11th-placed Forest on Saturday afternoon.

“It was just cramp and I trained fine on Thursday, so I’m ready for the game,” he said.

“I’m the happiest man in the world when I’m back on the pitch. It was good to be back with the win and progress through to the next round.

“The first half was very, very good. It was always going to be tough to keep that level of performance in the second half, but overall I thought we were good.

“We’ve got a tough match in the next round, Watford away. But that’s what we want, playing a Premier League team. We’re looking forward to that.”

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