United Midfielder Wants To Give RVP Some Goal Support

Tom Cleverley says he's hoping to give the likes of Robin van Persie and Wayne Rooney some competition by adding some goals to his tally this season, with the Manchester United midfielder hoping this season is much more successful than last.

Cleverley suffered from continual injury problems last season, but this time around he wants to show that he can be a regular starter for the Red Devils as they mount a challenge for the title over their cross-town rivals.

And not only is Cleverley hoping to dominate the midfield, but he wants to score goals as well.

"I feel fit and confident and now I just want to try and add some goal scoring to my game," he told the Manchester Evening News. "I got into some good shooting positions against Fulham and I was unlucky a couple of times.

"I'm feeling sharp and confident and hopefully I can have a good run of games now.

"I'm not thinking about last season but yes I do feel I've got matches and trophies to win. I want to catch up in that sense."

United struggled in the midfield department last season while Paul Scholes was in retirement, and after Cleverley pulled out injured and Darren Fletcher suffered from a bowel illness over the Christmas period, the side looked thinner than ever in the middle of the park.

But the return of Cleverley to regular first-team football will no doubt come as a huge boost to the side, and if he can stay fit, he could be a key part of their plan to not only dominate the Premier League but come back into contention for a Champions League trophy.

United were particularly disappointing in the top-tier European competition last season, going out in the group stages as the result of a shock loss to Basel.

And Michael Carrick believes that the side can come back up again after being reminded that they can never become complacent, no matter what the reputation of their opponent is.

"The league is the priority but when the Champions League comes round, of course, you put everything into it," he told the United website.

"We won't be taking our eye off the ball at all, especially after what happened last season.

"We want to be in the latter stages and fighting for the trophy. But we know the work has to be done now and hopefully we've learnt from last season and can have much better campaign this time.

"The players always look forward to the draw and we're especially looking forward to it this time after what happened last season. We let ourselves down as a squad.

"Our home form was very disappointing but our away form was good. It's about getting the balance. You want both to be terrific.

"You need your home form to be terrific to give you the base to progress. Over the years it's been good and we'll be looking to put that right this time because we don't want what happened last year to happen again."