Marc Skinner addressed the media this morning ahead of Manchester United’s meeting with Leicester City this Sunday in the Barclays Women’s Super League.

First providing a fitness update on his side set to face the Foxes, Skinner confirmed that Sunday will come too soon for Jayde Riviere to make her return to the match day squad.

“Jayde Riviere is back training individually. She’s back on the field. Hopefully, we can get her back in next week to be in contention for the Liverpool game, but we’ll see. Everybody else is fit barring the longer-term injuries.”

The Red Devils now turn their attention towards a meeting with Leicester City, as Jennifer Foster’s Foxes outfit look to bounce back from a disappointing few weeks across all competitions. Speaking in regards to Sunday’s opponent, Skinner expressed that “Maybe some of their results haven’t been what they wanted, but their performances have been absolutely fine.”

He continued, “They’re creating chances. They should be scoring. In the Tottenham game, there were moments where I felt that they could have taken that game. I know Jenny Foster well – she was one of my assistants at Birmingham when I was there, and I coached her in the Centre of Excellence. Leicester are a very good team, in my opinion. We look forward to playing them.”

Whilst measuring up their upcoming opponents, Skinner also spoke on what his Manchester United side need to do in order to find victory over the Foxes come Sunday. The Red Devils boss expressed that his side “must be more ruthless” if they are looking to garner the three points.

“We’re creating so many chances this year, but we have to put them in. The goals we conceded the other day were nowhere near good enough from our standard. I think the players have accepted that. It’s about concentration, it’s about focus.

That’s what we’ve got to do in this game. If we do that, then I think we’ll create enough to win the game, but we don’t go into this game thinking this is an easy Leicester team. This is a difficult one and we have to be at our very best to navigate this tough challenge.”

Manchester United last week announced that Maya Le Tissier had signed a new contract with the club, in an extension that will see her remain with the side until the summer of 2028. Speaking in regards to the young defender, Skinner expressed his delight in seeing Le Tissier extend her stay at the club.

“I think she’s going to help be a culture architect for what we want to build at Manchester United. She not only led with her body language, but she led with her voice.

I think what’s important is I want her to help me build this winning team that we want to see at Manchester United. She’s a key part of what we’re doing. I’m really pleased that she’s signed again.”

Skinner spoke in regard to nursing the talent of Manchester United’s academy youth as the club looks to progress in future seasons. The Red Devils boss spoke in regards to what he views to be a part of the development journey, whilst also noting “For the ones that are ready- we’ll continue to develop that and give them a space to be a professional player.”

“This year, we’ve had many occasions where our younger players have been training with the first team. I think that’s important. I’ve really enjoyed some of the qualities of the players as well. They stand out for their own qualities.

It’s about timing. The one thing you can’t really replicate in training is the pressure of a game, especially at the level that we’re at. But what is fantastic with the success of the U21s and now the U16s are in the final as well is that it kind of gives them that that pressure early. It’s not going to help everyone at that young tender age, but it does help some and then they grow differently at those ages.

But I think access to training, access to the same ideas as the first team players, and I think pre-season will be key. I think we’ll have a lot of them in pre-season and I think we’ll see a lot of them in games then too. From there, we’ll make a plan for each individual.”

Manchester United will travel to King Power Stadium on Sunday to face Leicester City in the Barclays Women’s Super League, with play heading underway at 15:00 GMT.