Bruno Fernandes has said that Manchester United must put Sunday's defeat to Manchester City behind them as soon as possible, as the Red Devils prepare for a busy run of fixtures ahead of the 2022 World Cup.
The 20-time English champions entered the Manchester derby off the back of four straight Premier League victories, but they lost 6-3 to their rivals at the Etihad Stadium.
Fernandes has conceded that his side 'lacked belief' in the early stages of the contest and were unable to recover from a disastrous first half, which saw them concede four times.
Man City led 6-1 in the 73rd minute of the contest, but Anthony Martial netted twice for Erik ten Hag's side in the final exchanges to make it a more respectable scoreline in the derby.
"The belief in the beginning was not the best and I think that caused us many problems and made us concede early goals," Fernandes told MUTV after the contest.
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"I think the second half was much better. We kept control more, we controlled the game whenever we had the ball. We were down on the result, so we had to take some risks.
"And obviously, when we took that risk, we scored straight away. We tried to [go forward] a little bit more but then we conceded more goals. You can't give that much space to City.
"Obviously, we are really disappointed. But now it is time to focus on the next game and we have to get back the performances we did before [the international break], and the belief and togetherness, and understand this cannot get us down. We need to improve for the future."
Man United will not have too much time to dwell on the result, as they are back in action on Thursday evening against Omonia in the Europa League.
The 20-time English champions will then resume their Premier League campaign against Everton on Sunday, and Fernandes has said that the quick turnaround is beneficial for the team.
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"This is a good thing. You don't have that much time to recover, but at the same time, you have a chance to get a result, a good result, a good performance to give more confidence to the team. Now it's about going to the Europa League and winning the next game, and all the games that are coming for us," he added.
After the Everton clash, Omonia will visit Old Trafford in the Europa League on October 13, which comes ahead of Premier League games with Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea.
The Red Devils will then welcome Sheriff Tiraspol in Europe on October 27 before finishing the month with a home Premier League fixture against West Ham United.
Man United are currently sixth in the Premier League table, boasting 12 points from their opening seven matches, two points behind fourth-placed Brighton & Hove Albion.
Matt Law
