Midfielder gives his thoughts on United clash and reflects on season
JAMES Morrison is hoping it is third time lucky at The Hawthorns against Manchester United on Sunday (ko 4pm) – but admits it could take something special to beat the champions.Albion’s last two home encounters against United have seen a 1-1 scoreline at half-time, only for the visitors to snatch all three points 2-1 with late winners.
Morrison fired a spectacular equaliser in the first of those games in January 2011 to cancel out Wayne Rooney’s opener before Javier Hernandez netted in the 75th minute.
Last season Shane Long opened the scoring on his Baggies debut in the first game of the campaign before Rooney levelled and Albion fell to an 81st-minute Steven Reid own goal.
And Morrison is relishing another crack at Sir Alex Ferguson’s men on home turf.
“It’s always a nice occasion when you play Manchester United,” he said.
“If you ask the Manchester United players I’m sure they’d tell you everyone raises their game against them.
“With it being Sir Alex Ferguson’s last game there’s an extra incentive to win and upset the odds.
“We also want to put right what went wrong last weekend at Norwich.
“I think the last two times we have played Manchester United at home we have dominated the games and ended up losing.
“Hopefully we can produce more of the same this time, be more clinical and see out the game.
“In those games we were compact, didn’t give them much time on the ball, and we passed the ball well.
“The main thing is to pass the ball well and make them work.”
The Scotland international is also eager for the eighth-placed Baggies to wrap up an impressive season in style with a tenth Barclays Premier League win on their own patch this term.
“At the start of the season everyone was saying United weren’t playing their best - but they were just grinding results out,” he added.
“They’ve got goals from all over the pitch and with players like Robin van Persie and Wayne Rooney they are always going to have a chance.
“I read somewhere they kept eight successive clean sheets so on the defensive side they’ve been on it as well.
“Their all-round game is top-notch.
“It will probably take something special to beat them.
“But I think if we play how we’re capable of at home I think they’ll find it difficult.
“For us, at the start of the season, I think everyone was expecting a battle down the bottom - but I think we’ve done magnificently well.
“I feel that people have forgotten that in recent weeks.
“I think we just need to keep looking at the table to see how well we’ve done.
“All the lads will want to upset the odds on Sunday and put a good performance on against the best players in the league.
“We’ve struggled lately but everyone will remember this game and it would be nice to go off with a win and have a good summer to reflect on what has been a fantastic season.
“People forget where we are and the size of our club.”