Three things spotted in Manchester United as intensity remains high for Crystal Palace fixture

Manchester United will take to the field for the third time in pre-season on Tuesday.

It's been a promising start to life as United boss for Erik ten Hag, who has seen his new side quickly pick up his methods and register back-to-back victories to kick off their tour of Thailand and Australia. Liverpool were defeated 4-0 in Bangkok to kick things off and a 4-1 win over Melbourne Victory followed.

It's back to Premier League opposition this week, with United facing off against Crystal Palace in Melbourne. The Eagles defeated Ralf Rangnick's side in the final game of last season so it could be a good barometer of how far United have come in a short amount of time.

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There's been a lot of hard work on the training field in pre-season and that continued on Monday as the players prepared for the game. PA captured a brief snippet of the sessions, in which simultaneous rondos were taking place, and here are three things we spotted from the footage.

McTominay continues to fight for a place

With Christian Eriksen signed and another midfielder, hoped to be Frenkie de Jong, being targeted, there is about to be plenty of competition for places in Ten Hag's midfield. As a result, Scott McTominay has a real battle on his hands to maintain regular football as he hasn't quite got the technical skills the Dutchman wants in the middle.

Or has he? McTominay has been working incredibly hard both in training and in matches to prove a point to the new manager and he looked to be doing so again in the latest session. In the rondos, he made a series of smart, short passes and looked to keep the ball moving — exactly what Ten Hag wants.

A new midfield