Erik ten Hag hails ‘vital’ Manchester United win over Wolves as Premier League top-four hopes boosted

Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag hailed a “vital” victory over Wolverhampton after a string of poor results.

United had one win in their last four matches and looked to have put a top-four finish in peril as rivals Liverpool pushed up the league at the same time.

Ten Hag’s men now have a four-point lead over Liverpool, who sit in fifth, and are level on points with Newcastle in third with three league games remaining.

Victory was a morale boost, as the Dutch manager explained.

He told Sky Sports: “Vital. We had to bounce back after big defeats. We had no energy and played slow [in those games]. Today, we had to win and we did it.

“We are very good at making the opponents’ goalkeeper man of the match. We have to be more clinical. We have to work on better conversion.”

Turning to youngster Garnacho, who recently signed a new long-term contract to stay at Old Trafford, he said: “He was injured for a couple of weeks. He worked hard. Straight impact. We have seen many times this season his impact from the bench.

“Every game is difficult. You have to be ready for every match.”

Manchester United travel to Bournemouth next Saturday afternoon.