Uwe Rosler says United have done their "homework" on Birmingham City as he prepares his side for Saturday’s Sky Bet Championship encounter at Elland Road (3pm kick-off).

Rosler’s men are looking to respond to last Sunday’s defeat at Middlesbrough, while also aiming to collect their first three points at home this season.

Birmingham, meanwhile, come into the game on the back of a midweek victory at Brentford which saw them climb into the play-off spots after a strong start to the campaign.

Analysing Saturday’s opposition, Rosler admits that his side cannot afford to allow the visitors the opportunity to punish them like Middlesbrough did at the Riverside Stadium last weekend.

But after a positive week on the training pitch, the United head coach insists his squad are in good shape to face the challenges that Birmingham will pose.

“It’s been a good week, we’ve done our homework on Birmingham and the players are ready,” Rosler said.

“The manager there is not complicating things, he’s doing a good job with the team and the squad at his disposal.

“He’s playing to the strengths of the players he has, with Clayton Donaldson and Demarai Gray providing the pace.

“They are not really interested in having the majority of the ball, but they’re very interested in punishing the opposition.

“Any mistakes and any space you give them, they have the capability to punish you.

“For us, we have to make sure we have the ball a lot and that we’re using it well and quick.

“We have to make sure we’re attacking in the right way. I think what has to change is our mentality going into these games – we have nothing to lose.

“We have such a young squad and we have to go out and play the football that we can, like we did against Middlesbrough and like we did against Burnley.

“When you play like that, the margins can go your way.”

Having reflected on the loss at Middlesbrough, Rosler says he is drawing more and more encouraging signs from a game in which even Aitor Karanka admitted that the scoreline somewhat flattered his side.

“The more I think about it, the more I see from the game and the more stats I get from Prozone, the more it tells me how good we were between the boxes,” Rosler said.

“But football is very often won in the box and that was where we lost the game.

“I felt, for the majority of the game and even in the first half, they didn’t have any threat to us.

“We went on top of them in the second half. When you’re going against such a strong opposition, then everything has to go your way.

“Unfortunately, a major decision went against us.”

Rosler also refused to be critical of his players after individual mistakes led to Boro’s goals last Sunday.

“We’re all winning together and we’re all losing together,” he said. “I’m not singling out any person after a defeat. We take it on the chin.

“Also, I have to see the bigger picture – I have to build my team around the good things that we did and try to create confidence in the way we played.

“The big aspect for me was that our heads never dropped. Going to Middlesbrough and being 2-0 down and then starting to play like we did, that is a big, big plus for us.”