John O'Shea insists Manchester United's away form will improve
Manchester United defender John O'Shea has backed his team to improve on their away form in the Premier League.
Sir Alex Ferguson's team is third in the league with a flawless home record after seven games, but they have recorded a total of four draws on the road since August. On Saturday, Sunderland was the better team at the Stadium of Light, but had to settle for
a goalless draw against last season's runners-up.
But O'Shea, who has played for United since 1998, dismissed talk of the significance of United's poor away record and said that his side's form is bound to improve.
"The away form has been disappointing, but I can see that turning around very soon because of the quality and experience we have," the Irishman told the club's official website.
"It has always been the case here that if we draw two or three games it is a crisis, people say the empire is crumbling. We are used to that. It happens every season. It is about proving the critics wrong."
International breaks disrupt continuity
The current international break means that United will not be playing their next league fixture until they host West Bromwich Albion on October 16. The break was preceded by one in early September, and O'Shea believes that United will be better equipped
to find continuity as the scheduling of the qualifiers subsides.
"It will help us when the international breaks are over. At the start of the season, you build up a bit of momentum, then there is a two-week break, followed by another a couple of weeks later and we seem to be affected more than most."
United have relinquished leads in an uncharacteristic fashion this season. Among the team's away draws have been the trips to Everton and Fulham, where O'Shea's team have had to settle for one point after taking the lead in the game. Against Everton, the
team protected a 3–1 lead until stoppage time before conceding two goals in quick succession.
"We were ahead at Fulham and Everton and should have killed those games off, but we’re not losing the games and that’s a huge factor. We are more than capable of going on a long unbeaten run and turning those draws into wins."
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