Mitrovic is set to be part of the Newcastle squad that will travel to face Manchester United at Old Trafford at the weekend, with McClaren still seeking his first Premier League victory since taking charge in the summer.
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But 12 months later, the United manager is reaping the rewards of selecting a more settled line-up.
Luke Shaw, Daley Blind, Chris Smalling and Matteo Darmain seem to be forging a very good partnership in defence and the quartet will surely start against Newcastle as well.
Sergio Romero will continue in goal for United as David de Gea is still unable to focus following Real Madrid’s interest in him, according to Van Gaal.
The England global is convinced the selection policy is paying off as van Gaal’s side have kept clean sheets in their league games against Tottenham and Aston Villa this season.
“Last week against Southampton was encouraging and against Swansea I thought we recovered well after a slow start”.
It would seem inconceivable to think that Rooney could be dropped but if the striker does not improve, van Gaal may well decide to hand Javier Hernandez a chance to impress.
However, Marouane Fellaini is still unavailable as he serves the final installment of a three-match ban, while defender Phil Jones misses out with mild thrombosis once again and Marcos Rojo is still lacking match fitness.
Per Chronicle Live, McClaren said: “The nature of the game is changing”.
“I’ve had a lot of these type of players during my career and we should not take that aggression, that emotion away from the game”, said McClaren.
United ran out 3-1 victors over the same opposition in the corresponding fixture last term, before securing a 1-0 win at St James’ Park towards the end of the season.
Newcastle United boss Steve McClaren believes Siem de Jong will be a huge asset to the club once he returns from injury, according to ESPN.
Florian Thauvin hopes to make his Newcastle debut at Old Trafford after sealing his move from Marseille.
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Dutch worldwide midfielder De Jong managed only five senior appearances and just two starts for the club last season. I’m a big fan of his but not as a centre-forward.
