Herrera : Manchester United midfield competition beneficial

(Reuters) – Manchester United’s Ander Herrera welcomes the stiff competition for places in the side’s midfield and is keen to learn from the more experienced players in the squad, such as vice-captain Michael Carrick and Bastian Schweinsteiger.

The Spaniard enjoyed a fine game in the 3-0 victory at Everton on Saturday, scoring the second and providing an assist as Manchester United returned to form in the Premier League after a limp defeat to Arsenal before the international break.

The former Athletic Bilbao midfielder also believes the competition for first team places can only benefit the club.

“You take advantage of that (the competition in the middle of the park). When you play with the best players you take advantage of that like we did,” Herrera told the club’s website (www.manutd.com).

“This is good for me, good for the club. When the club signs top players you are going to take advantage of that and that is what I’m doing.

“You have (Schweinsteiger) and also Michael Carrick and they are very experienced guys. I think Morgan (Schneiderlin) and me can learn a lot from them,” he added.

Herrera is desperate to become one of the first names on coach Louis van Gaal’s team sheet but acknowledges he will have to improve to make that happen.

“I think people value me because I always try to give everything for the team. I will try to do my best to establish myself in the first team. I am a team player and when I play I will do my best,” the 26-year-old said.

“I want to be a top player. You want to always be in the team but this is Manchester United. You have to play really good if you want to be in the team every day, so that’s what I want to do,” he added.

Herrera will be hoping for more first team action when the Red Devils travel to Russia to face CSKA Moscow in the Champions League on Wednesday and then host local rivals Manchester City in the league on Sunday.

(Reporting by Shravanth Vijayakumar in Bengaluru; Editing by John O’Brien)