Ole: I didn’t beat Pep three times, the players beat Pep!

OLE Gunnar Solskjaer has won three of his five meetings with City coach Pep Guardiola and became the first United manager to preside over a domestic derby double last season since Sir Alex Ferguson in 2010.

Despite that, the Reds boss has downplayed his record against the two-time Champions League winner.

“Do you know why managers don’t have a good record against Pep’s teams? It’s because Pep has a fantastic team and he’s a fantastic manager,” Solskjaer stressed.

“It’s not me having a good record against him, it’s my players and my team, my coaching staff as well, as we sit together and we find a way that’s the right one.

“We’ve had margins with us in those games (against City). There are fine margins in most games of football. I would never ever say that I have [a good record] because me and Pep, we don’t play.

“If I’d played maybe I would’ve tackled or dribbled him... I think I beat him, I think he played in Euro 2000 for Spain, I’m not sure... maybe because we won 1-0 that’s the only win I’ve got against him.

“I’ll have to look at the teamsheets now!”

Meanwhile, Solskjaer has lauded the impact of Bruno Fernandes on United after he became the club’s first player to receive three Player of the Month awards since Cristiano Ronaldo.

“Bruno gets his individual awards and fairly so,” Solskjaer said. “He’s been fantastic. The influence he’s made coming into the club, it just shows in the points tally that we’ve had since he arrived.

“He’s got a winning mentality. He’s never, never satisfied. He wants to improve. He wants to be better.”