Manchester United players trained in a hotel car park prior to their EFL Cup tie at Northampton (pictures courtesy of @isla2410)
UNITED Kingdom, Sep 20 – Manchester United’s players were put through their paces in a hotel car park ahead of Wednesday’s EFL Cup game at Northampton.
The squad used the car park of the Mercure Daventry Court hotel, around 12 miles from Northampton Town’s Sixfields Stadium, as they put the final touches to their preparations for the game.
In images posted on social media, Jose Mourinho was pictured giving instructions to his players as they went through a few stretches after travelling down from Manchester.
Jose Mourinho watches his Manchester United squad train in a hotel car park (pictures courtesy of @isla2410)
When the two clubs met in the FA Cup in 1970, the game was played at Northampton’s former home the County Ground, which was shared with Northamptonshire County Cricket Club and whose football pitch, in the summer months, acted as a car park for cricket spectators.
United head to Sixfields having lost their past three fixtures to face a Northampton side who won Sky Bet League Two last season and lost their first match in 32 games when they were beaten 3-1 at Chesterfield on Saturday.
Mourinho blamed a mix of bad luck, bad refereeing decisions and defensive mistakes from his own players for last weekend’s 3-1 defeat to Watford and midfielder Marouane Fellaini believes their current poor run constitutes a “little crisis”.
“We can say it’s a little crisis because a club like Manchester United cannot lose three games,” he told French TV station SFR Sport. “Yes it’s low, but we are men and we must stand up together and show ourselves.
“To lose was a tough moment, but we must be ready to go again on Wednesday. We need to focus. At the moment heads are down but, as I said, we must stand together and fight and show that we are confident.”
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-Sky Sport-
