Manchester United’s former club record signing, Juan Mata, says that the month of March will probably determine the club’s fate for the next 12 months. United still remain in contention for the top four place, but they are far from being confident about finishing in this position.

This is due to the intense competition for the Champions League spots this season. Apart from the regular top clubs like Manchester United and Arsenal, teams like Southampton and Tottenham have also been putting up a huge fight. As a result, United had only left in the top three by a few point advantage.

This could certainly change with the string of poor results and Mata is aware of this. There is more opportunity for United slipping into poor form during the month of March. The club have matches against top teams like Tottenham and Liverpool while Arsenal will be their opponents in the FA Cup quarter-finals. Beating these opponents home and away will provide United with a lot of confidence, while also helping them provide some breathing space to the top three places. Mata has not been getting much of action at Old Trafford, but he has not been complaining either. The 26-year-old has made only 22 appearances in all competitions this campaign.

“We know we are getting closer to the decisive weeks of the season. We will need to give everything in the next games to get our goals; for starters we have Newcastle in the Premier League followed by Arsenal in the FA Cup.We will also play Tottenham and Liverpool in March, so it’s not an exaggeration to describe this month as one of the most demanding ones this season. We are ready for that, although all we think about is trying to win all the games left, starting at St James’ Park,” said the Spaniard.