Erik ten Hag not dwelling on Brentford win as Man Utd prepare for Jose Mourinho

Erik ten Hag is not getting carried away with the comeback win against Brentford but acknowledged the importance of Manchester United’s improved mood and confidence levels ahead of the trip to Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce.

The Red Devils ended a concerning five-match winless run at Old Trafford on Saturday having fallen behind to an Ethan Pinnock header as the Bees capitalised on Matthijs de Ligt’s temporary absence due to a head wound.

United used that sense of injustice as fuel as Alejandro Garnacho’s fantastic volley and a cool Rasmus Hojlund finish secured a 2-1 Premier League victory that eases pressure on the manager.

It was an important win but not one that under-fire Ten Hag is overblowing as attention turns to Thursday’s match in Turkey, where they will try to kickstart their Europa League campaign against Fenerbahce.

“Always wins will bring you belief,” Ten Hag said. “Believing more will bring the confidence.

“You can perform quite well as we did in the start of the season. We had clean sheets, we created chances, but when you don’t net and you don’t win then of course everyone is disappointed, and everyone around is disappointed.

“But of course when you have a performance like this and you win, that will bring up the mood.

“But it’s only a win, that’s also what we have to consider, to realise, because we have to win every game.

“So, it’s only 24 hours and then we move on but definitely it will bring us confidence.”

The Fenerbahce match promises to be an interesting occasion given United have drawn their first two Europa League matches and take on their outspoken former manager Mourinho.

It continues an intense block of seven games in 23 days before November’s internationals, when Marcus Rashford may well be