Niall Quinn: You used to go to Old Trafford and hope you didn’t get spanked

Former Sunderland and Manchester City striker Niall Quinn has said that there is a resurgence at Manchester United and that there is a sense of belief back at Old Trafford again.

Quinn played United regularly during his Premier League career and came up against many of Alex Ferguson's great sides during his nine seasons in the top flight. The Red Devils struggled to start this season but have recently hit a purple patch under new manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer with the club winning their last five consecutive games and scoring 16 goals under the Norwegian.

"I said it on air and I'll say it here again today, you would go to Old Trafford you would take a deep breath going out on to the pitch and you would hope to god you didn't get spanked," Quinn said at the Virgin Media Spring launch in Dublin on Tuesday. "For the last couple of years teams have gone there and said 'we're in today, we can beat these'. That's a huge psychological change so for Man United and Solskjaer that's been brilliant to see it but they have to carry on and that's a huge ask. "But I'd keep my eye on them. Man City look like the obvious favourites because of their talent pool and the way the club is going in general. [Pep] Guardiola is probably the best coach we've seen in a long, long time but I'm really interested in Man United."

Former manager Jose Mourinho left Manchester United last month with the second highest win percentage in the club's history but had an ongoing public dispute with star midfielder Paul Pogba. Quinn felt that Mourinho tried to assert his dominance over the club during his final term in charge and that Solskjaer has now restored an aura of positivity at the club.

"Well you have to keep your eye on them that's for sure," Quinn said of United. "Whether Solskjaer can keep this amazing run of confidence that's running through the dressing room and into the stadium right now that remains to be seen. "Any sportsman will tell you the same thing that if you're playing for a manager or a coach that makes you feel good about yourself, who believes in you it comes back to you and you bounce it back to them and you go and play. "How did Mourinho turn into the negative influence when he was such a brilliant coach in the past. There was a major play there from him that was like 'I'm bigger than this place', well actually you aren't. "Now we're revisiting that sort of surge and belief and confidence that was always there at Man United."