Hugo draws positives after United stalemate

Hugo Lloris hailed the spirit of the team after Sunday's goalless draw against United.

Less than 48 hours after winning at Leicester on Boxing Day, the players were pitted against the Premier League’s in-form team with United winning seven and drawing one of their last eight prior to this meeting at the Lane.

Hugo had to be at his best to keep out Ashley Young and Robin van Persie as United had the better of the first half.

Juan Mata and Van Persie missed chances at the start of the second half but we grew stronger as the game progressed and David De Gea was forced to save from Andros Townsend, Christian Eriksen and Federico Fazio before Ryan Mason fired our best chance just over.

“We finished the game stronger than United physically and we were close to getting a chance to score,” said Hugo.

“I think overall the draw was fair because in the first half they had some good chances but we were strong and after that, we know we have the quality to score a goal at any moment.

“The spirit was great, we fought all the way and at the end, we were close to scoring. That was important for the confidence.

“Manchester United have a lot of world-class players and they showed it, they could be a challenger for the title as well, so it’s good for us not to concede three points to them and the draw helps us to stay close to the third position.

“We need to keep going because there is soon another big game against Chelsea. We need to recover well and to prepare for this game in the best way possible.”