04 March 2024 , 00:45
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Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes has admitted it is "going to be hard" to secure a top-four finish this season following their 3-1 defeat to Manchester City on Sunday.
The result leaves United 11 points off fourth-placed Aston Villa, who beat Luton Town 3-2 on Saturday. And while Fernandes has vowed the Red Devils will "try until the end of the season to get into that fourth place", he realises it is a difficult challenge.
"We need to look forward," Fernandes told club media. "We don't depend only on ourselves to get into the positions we want. We're not hiding from that, we want to be in the Champions League and we want to try until the end of the season to get into that fourth place that gives you the possibility to get into the Champions League.
"We know it's going to be hard but we have to do everything that is in our hands that we can do going into the next game at home. We know that our fans will be there over and over again. They've been behind us, they push us. Next game we have to go there and win that game."
United boss Erik ten Hag has also insisted his side will continue to "fight" for Champions League qualification. "We had one bad performance last week where we didn't play that well. But from this year on, we are really progressing," he told Sky Sports.
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"You have to get some points back and win a game like this against City. There are many games to play and everyone can beat everyone so things can quickly turn around, we have to win our games. Number five can also be a position in the Champions League, so we have to fight for it."
And former Red Devils captain Gary Neville believes "there is still hope for United" in their bid to finish in the top four. "I think so, I think the defeat against Fulham last week was more of the problem than today," he said.
United's 3-1 defeat to Manchester City leaves them 11 points off the top four (Manchester United via Getty Imag)"I think today was likely going to end in a defeat, but Villa play Spurs next week and one of the teams or both will drop points so United can get close. I still think there is a long way to go after the March international break, there is the run-in.
"I think that Villa and Spurs have to do a job and there is still hope for United there, but they’re inconsistent and last week’s defeat to Fulham was a blow but today most people would have expected that they would drop three points today."
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