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Cape Town - Nemanja Matic believes it is imperative that Manchester United hit the ground running as they try to exorcise the ghosts of last season.
The Red Devils failed to win any of their final six games under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and subsequently missed out on Champions League qualification after finishing sixth.
While United will play in the Europa League, some fans are worried that they will be in for another disappointing campaign.
United have not won a trophy for the past two seasons, with Jose Mourinho losing his job midway through the last term after leading the club to their worst start in 28 years.
Solskjaer is currently working tirelessly behind the scenes to improve his squad, with Daniel James the first through the door after he was snapped up from Swansea.
Matic believes his side can still compete for silverware if they get off to a strong start and punters can back them to lift the Premier League trophy using their free bet.
"I think we need to be focused from the first day, to prepare physically and to be ready mentally for the season which is in front of us,’ Matic told the club’s official website.
"We [must] think positively. We want to win trophies, so I think everyone needs to be ready.
"I’m getting excited about the new season.
"But I won’t look at the fixtures a lot because you have to look game by game.
"The next game is always the most important, so when the fixtures come out, the most important is the first game, so you are focused on your first game.
"Then when you’ve finished that you can think about the second one.
"In football, it’s not good to think about a game that comes later, so you need to be focused always on the next challenge."
Meanwhile, United will begin a new Premier League season on Sunday 11 August by hosting Chelsea.
The fixtures were announced on Thursday morning, when it was confirmed that – for the first time in 15 years – we will kick off our campaign by playing the Blues.
