Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has declared himself “reasonably satisfied” with his side’s 3-1 FA Cup win away at Preston North End.
Scott Laird gave the lower league side an early advantage but goals form Ander Herrera, Marouane Fellaini and Wayne Rooney saw the Premier League giants win and book a place in the sixth round, where they will meet Arsenal.
Van Gaal, who has heavily criticised his side this season, told BBC Sport following the game that he was fairly satisfied with the result and performance of his players.
“I was reasonably satisfied. We didn’t give anything away. The Preston goal was a little bit unlucky, it was deviated.
“But then we showed an unbelievable team spirit. We changed the shape and that was the solution. We scored fantastic goals, a little bit lucky also I think. I liked the second goal a lot, we have trained that a lot.
“Marouane Fellaini has a body, he also scores goals. I played him in the position that he wants for the first time but I do not always have a position for him. The spirit was better.”
Meanwhile, Preston boss Simon Grayson has told his players that they should take all the positives from the game and hold their heads high.
“Our players thought Wayne Rooney was in the way for their first goal but we can see that he wasn’t. The players can be very proud, we gave them a good game.
“We looked like we were comfortable but when they went 4-4-2 they exposed us down the sides. They have class. The players can wake up in the morning and be proud of what they’ve done.
“They’ve not let the game pass them by and we hope to use this as motivation for the rest of the season.”