SOLSKJAER STAYS POSITIVE

Caretaker boss backs Red Devils to bounce back at Chelsea following his first defeat

OLE Gunnar Solskjaer insists there is no reason to panic following his first defeat as Manchester United’s caretaker manager and has backed his players to bounce back in tomorrow’s FA Cup fifth round tie at Chelsea.

The 2-0 Champions League loss to Paris Saint-Germain was all the more painful for Solskjaer because Anthony Martial and Jesse Lingard sustained injuries that will keep them out of action for between two and three weeks.

The in-form duo will also miss Liverpool’s visit to Old Trafford in the Premier League on Feb 24 and face a race against time to make the second leg of the last 16 tie against PSG in the French capital on March 6.

“You don’t panic because you’ve lost a game. You don’t change everything. It doesn’t change the mindset at all,” Solskjaer said.

“I hate losing games, the boys hate it. They’ve been down, but there’s no point dwelling on it. There are big games with good teams coming up and we need to dust ourselves down.

“You’ve got to bounce back at this club. You always have challenges and away against Chelsea is tough.

“We know there was a spell against PSG, seven or eight minutes, when we lost our way. Apart from that, we weren’t too bad.”

Solskjaer is confident his players can recover quickly to inflict more damage on a Chelsea side still reeling for last weekend’s 6-0 thrashing at the hands of Manchester City.

Solskjaer was reminded that United beat Chelsea away in the quarter-final en route to winning the FA Cup — and Treble — in 1999.

“We beat Arsenal and Liverpool as well,” he added. “We did it the hard way then and we will have to do it the hard way this year.”

Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez are expected to play in the absence of Martial and Lingard, but Solskjaer did not rule out the prospect of instead showing faith in youngsters Angel Gomes and Tahith Chong, who have been training with the first team after impressing in United’s junior sides.

“We’ve got still forward options but Angel and Chongy have been training with us all week so there’s a big chance they’ll be involved,” said Solskjaer.

“It’s a chance for anyone who plays — Alexis, Romelu, Chongy or Angel.