We can’t go over the top if we want to stay in title race

Ole insists league positions mean nothing in January

BURNLEY v MAN UNITED TONIGHT, 8.15PM, SKY SPORTS MANCHESTER UNITED boss Old Gunnar Solskjaer has warned his players they will come unstuck if they start to believe their own hype.

United will go top of the Premier League by avoiding defeat at Burnley tonight, a spot they have not occupied for two and a half years. That would also see Solskajer’s men go into Sunday’s top-of-thetable clash at Liverpool ahead of their arch rivals and reigning champs.

But Solskjaer has told his squad the table counts for nothing in January.

He said: “We need to get points against Burnley before anyone can say that you’re top of the t abl e .

But that’s the position we’ve put ourselves in. “I’d like to think we go into this game not thinking about where we’ll end up tonight in the table but where we can end up in the table in May. “So if at one point you think, ‘We’ve made it now, we’ve cracked it’ and you relax, that’s when it’s going to hit you bback. So we’re very focufocused. “We have ssome good characterscharacter in the team, th e dressing room is louder, it’s mmore vocal, with experiexp en ence. W e have more players who can grab the situation.”

The last time United were top was August 10 2018, after a 2-1 win at home to Leicester in the Premier League’s opening game of that season.

But the last time they were top this far into a season was 2013, when Sir Alex Ferguson led United to their most recent title before stepping down. Since then United have lacked the consistency to challenge for the title. Solskjaer added: “Since Sir Alex left we’ve been second, third, fourth, fifth, twice sixth and once seventh.

“When I played it was different, we were really disappointed if we didn’t win the league. Now there are many teams who can look at themselves as candidates to challenge the top teams.

“But I feel the group’s mentality is getting better. Sometimes results don’t go as expected but I’m very happy with where we are mentally at the moment.

“I’ve been lucky enough to have played in a team with loads of characters, where you look after ourselves – inner justice.

“You don’t just let yourself down, you let your team down, so you need leaders to grab hold of the ones who stray out of line from what we’ve agreed as a group.

“There’s nothing stronger than being part of a team that keeps together. I’ve seen teams with cliques that don’t work together. That’s the killer of a team so it’s a big thing that the group pushes themselves.”