Smalling quick to turn United attention to Liverpool

Victory over Hull in the EFL Cup took Manchester United’s winning run to nine games and Chris Smalling is confident his side are hitting their straps at just the right time to take on fierce rivals Liverpool.

Goals from Juan Mata and Marouane Fellaini gave the Red Devils a 2-0 success against Hull on Tuesday evening as Jose Mourinho goes in search of his first trophy as United manager.

But Smalling, 27, was quick to switch the focus to the weekend, where victory for United over Liverpool would bring them within two points of the Reds, who currently lie second in the Premier League table.

“Before facing Reading [in the FA Cup] on Saturday we knew that we had three games in three different competitions,” he said.

(Photo by Matthew Ashton – AMA/Getty Images)

“We knew that if we could keep the winning run going then we couldn’t have more confidence going into one of the biggest games of the season. Everyone is really up for it.

“Now we can switch our attention to that game.

“I think we’ll recover on Wednesday, then we have a good few days to work on the tactics on how to nullify their threats and to really impact our own play to keep this run going.

“We know how important this game is at the top end of that table.”