Juan Mata has urged Manchester United to bounce back immediately from their 3-0 defeat at Everton on Sunday in order to maintain their top four ambitions.
Goals from James McCarthy, John Stones and Kevin Mirallas condemned United to successive Premier League defeats – after they were beaten 1-0 at Chelsea on April 18.
Sunday’s loss to the Toffees means fourth-placed United sit seven points clear of Liverpool in fifth – with the latter having a game in hand on their bitter rivals.
Manchester United midfielder Juan Mata (right) has urged his side to bounce back after losing at Everton
James McCarthy (centre) scored Everton’s opener in their 3-0 win over United at Goodison Park on Sunday
And writing in his blog titled One Hour Behind, Mata admits the Red Devils were below par at Goodison Park but Louis van Gaal’s men are now targeting four wins from their four remaining league matches this season to cement Champions League qualification.
‘I know that you are very disappointed after yesterday’s [Sunday’s] game. We do feel the same and I’m still sad as I write this, but the only thing we can do is to stick together and look ahead,’ the 26-year-old wrote on Monday addressing the Old Trafford faithful.
‘For a team like us such a big score is not easy to take, but we have to put it aside to face the next games… It is clear that the game against Everton was tough since the beginning after McCarthy’s goal.
‘However, we tried to recover by creating some chances and playing on Everton’s half of the pitch, but we couldn’t find the way to turn around the score. They played their game very good, they were solid in defence and took almost every single chance they had to score.
Mata (right) says United are now targeting four wins from their four remaining league matches this season
‘As I said before, we are in the final stage of the season and we must try to win each of the remaining games. The goal is to get four wins in the last four games of the Premier League.
‘We need to return all the support we get from our fans (in Goodison Park they were brilliant, once again) and we hope to do it this coming Saturday in Old Trafford against West Brom.
‘We all want to be in the Champions League next season and, in order to get there, we must go back to the right path with good performances and good results. We can’t afford another game like this one.’
The 26-year-old will be hoping to help United get back to winning ways against West Brom on Saturday
