Tom Heaton makes Manchester United dressing room admission ahead of the new season

Manchester United have a "calm excitement" about the forthcoming Premier League campaign after a positive pre-season, Tom Heaton has revealed.

The mood around United was understandably dour just a few months ago when their Premier League season came to a fittingly dire end with a 1-0 defeat to Crystal Palace. The one glimmer of hope was that new manager Erik ten Hag was in attendance at Selhurst Park, with the promise of a transformation to come.

While United remain a work in progress, especially as the club has been unable to strengthen all the positions Ten Hag wants to reinforce in the transfer market, they have certainly been moving in the right direction. It's clear that the Dutchman's ideas and instructions have already taken root within the squad as they have already played some exciting football in their galvanising pre-season tour.

Also read: United player ratings vs Vallecano

Though the final two matches of the summer - a 1-0 loss to Atletico Madrid and a 1-1 stalemate against Rayo Vallecano - were a tad underwhelming, there is certainly a renewed sense of positivity surrounding the club. That includes in the dressing room, as Heaton believes the squad are optimistic ahead of their first match of the new season against Brighton on Sunday.

"Excellent. Thoroughly enjoyed it," he told MUTV when asked how pre-season has been. "New manager coming in brought a new energy to the football club, I think you can probably feel that from the outside. New style. I think everyone's taken to it really well.

"After a real disappointing campaign last year I think we're going into this one with a fair bit more optimism. It takes time, it won't be overnight but certainly the building blocks are there and everyone is on the