LONDON: Erik ten Hag insists Manchester United’s last-gasp defeat at Brighton & Hove Albion will not derail their bid to qualify for the Champions League.

Alexis Mac Allister’s stoppage-time penalty gave Brighton a 1-0 win against United on Thursday.

The defeat left United in fourth place on 63 points and now just four points above fifth-placed Liverpool, although they hold a vital game in hand over Jurgen Klopp’s men.

United have proven adept at recovering from setbacks this season and Ten Hag is confident they will show that determined streak again as they look wrap up a top four finish in the Premier League.

“We have every time in this season when we had a defeat, we bounce back. So, I count on my players, I count on my team. We have to do it again,” Ten Hag said ahead of Sunday’s trip to West Ham United.

“There is no time to stay in this disappointment, so in one hour we go onto the game against West Ham United. All focus on that. We prepare for them, we make a good plan, the players have to take responsibility and they will do. I count on them.

“They have to do it and they can do it because we have the evidence in the season. Every time when we had disappointments, they bounce back.”

Ten Hag is adamant there is no reason to panic about United’s top four hopes, despite Liverpool’s winning run coming just in time to put them back in the hunt.

“We had a quite good run from the last five, four wins and a draw before Brighton,” he said. “We have everything in our hands, so we have to focus on our performance. I trust my players, so I am quite convinced about that.”

United haven’t won the Champions League since 2008 and last appeared in the final in 2011. But the tournament is part of the club’s DNA and Ten Hag is well aware how important it is to feature in Europe’s elite club competition.

“Manchester United, of course, we need to be there in the Champions League,” he said. “We want to be there because we want to challenge with the best teams in the world, so we do everything that’s in our power to get that done. I think it is always vital that we have to be in the Champions League. We do everything to get there.”

Ten Hag, however stressed his side need to be more clinical in front of goal and maintain their focus for a full 90 minutes after they squandered a few chances before conceding late at Brighton.

United and Brighton both had opportunities early in the first half, with Antony firing wide in the second minute before Kaoru Mitoma hammered a fierce shot straight into the face of David De Gea.

However, the deadlock was not broken until the ninth minute of stoppage time, when MacAllister scored from the spot after Luke Shaw had handled the ball in the box.

“Every defeat is a disappointment but in the end when you lose in the last second, that is of course annoying,” Ten Hag said. “And I think the first minutes sum everything up. We create a good chance, we were not clinical enough, then in the attack after we concede a big chance by a giveaway from us, the ball on the head for David.

“And in the end, we also gave away the goal and that’s annoying. If you can’t win because you don’t finish your opportunities then don’t lose. We have to be more clinical and stay focused until the end of the game.”

Published in Dawn, May 6th, 2023