Manchester United’s players appeared in high spirits as they arrived at the Lowry Hotel in preparation for their Premier League clash against Liverpool on Sunday.
Boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who has earned praise since arriving at the club in December, had a friendly greeting for a member of hotel staff as he made his way into the building.
The rest of the first-team squad followed into the Salford hotel as part of a pre-match routine that dates back before Solskjaer took charge.
Paul Pogba, so key to the club’s recent revival, Jesse Lingard and David De Gea all made their way into the hotel in buoyant mood.
After staying overnight at the Lowry, the players will then make their way to Old Trafford to warm up ahead of the 2:05pm kick-off against their near neighbours and fierce rivals.
Solskjaer will be putting his unbeaten Premier League record on the line, having posted eight wins and one draw since succeeding Jose Mourinho.
He faces his toughest test to date against a team currently unbeaten in five games and tied on points with Manchester City at the top of the table.
The last meeting between these two teams ended in an emphatic 3-1 victory for Liverpool with Sadio Mane and a Xherdan Shqiri double doing the damage after Lingard had levelled for the visitors.
That game also marked the final match of Mourinho’s tenure at Old Trafford.