Manchester United boss Skinner focused on Arsenal rather than personal milestone | OneFootball

Manchester United head coach Marc Skinner says that reaching 100 games in charge of the team is an achievement but his full focus is on facing Arsenal.

Skinner will celebrate his personal milestone when his side face The Gunners at The Leigh Sports Village on Sunday afternoon.

When speaking in the pre-match press conference, Skinner admitted that it will be nice to reach 100 games in charge but his focus has to be on this weekend’s game.

“I feel like there’s a lot of growth happened in that time and I’ve had a lot of ups and downs as you’d expect with a manager that has had 100 games,” Skinner said. “It’s the first club that I have achieved 100 games for and I’m really proud of that; I’m really proud to represent Manchester United, I’m really proud to represent the fans, the players, the club.

“It’s a big game [against Arsenal]. It’s a great milestone but I’ve got to try and win the game on Sunday, that’s what I’m here for. I want to be successful, I want to be here for another 100 games and to do that, we’ve got to win games of football and trophies, keep progressing this team.”

Manchester United come up against an Arsenal side that are still without a permanent head coach. Some may see The Red Devils as the favourites to win the game but Skinner believes that the level of pressure on his side does not change.

He said “No more [pressure] than usual. We play under pressure in almost every game that we play because we want to win games.

“Renée [Slegers] has done a fantastic job [as Arsenal interim head coach]. She’s been there last year with Jonas [Eidevall] as well, so she knows that squad inside and out. She has got experience herself as a manager and they’re in good hands. Until they find the manager that they want, they’re in fantastic hands with the coaching staff that they’ve got.

“I don’t feel like there’s any added pressure. Our players want to go and try and win the game, as I’m sure Arsenal players will as well. We are looking to test ourselves, see where we are at.”

Skinner was asked whether it is a good time to play Arsenal but he did not want to make any judgement on that until after the game on Sunday.

He said “I can only answer that after Sunday. I think they’re playing well and they’ve got some fantastic players, so it’s a challenge for us that we’ve got to rise to.

“We are going to try and give it our best, of course and I’m sure Arsenal will do the same. Let’s see where we are at after Sunday but I think it’ll be a good measuring stick. We’ve started the season fantastically well but we are facing a team that will either be wounded and will really want to show that or a team that we can hopefully take advantage of.

“I just think they’re a fantastic team and a team that are going to be very difficult to play against.”

Manchester United’s Barclays Women’s Super League fixture against Arsenal kicks-off at 12.30pm on Sunday afternoon. Tickets remain on-sale and can be purchased by clicking here.