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Harry Maguire admits he cannot keep just playing once a month for Manchester United but remains confident of winning back his place and helping Erik ten Hag\u2019s team climb the table.<\/p>\n
It has been a bumpy ride since the 30-year-old starred in England\u2019s run to the Euro 2020 final, with the defender falling down the pecking order at Old Trafford and then losing the captaincy.<\/p>\n
A widely-discussed summer move to West Ham did not materialise and settled Maguire remained at a club where he is trying to get his career back on track with next summer\u2019s Euros looming large.<\/p>\n
Gareth Southgate has been a staunch supporter of the centre-back throughout his ups and downs but admitted to concerns over his level of involvement, which the ex-United skipper is determined to improve.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI have belief in my ability and what I have done in my career as every player should,\u201d Maguire said.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery player who is on the bench should believe they should be starting, otherwise they wouldn\u2019t be playing at a high level. I am no different.<\/p>\n
\u201cListen, it\u2019s been tough. I want to play games. I want to feel important to the club and I want to feel important to the rest of the team.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the moment I haven\u2019t been playing anywhere near as much as I\u2019d like. It\u2019s the bottom line of it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve just got to make sure I am ready to take the opportunities when they come along.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked when gametime becomes an issue and, given Euro 2024 is coming up, whether that could be sooner rather than later, said: \u201cYeah, of course.<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean, I\u2019m not going to sit here all my life and play once every month and if it carries on then I\u2019m sure myself and the club will sit down and have a chat about things.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut, honestly, at the moment I\u2019m fully focused on two games for England, two big games.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen I\u2019m fully focused on fighting and trying to get back my place at Manchester United and helping the team climb up the league to where we should be.\u201d<\/p>\n
England face Australia in a Wembley friendly on Friday before attention turns to the crunch Euro 2024 qualifier against Italy.<\/p>\n
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Maguire has kept his England place despite his struggles to break his way into Ten Hag\u2019s line-up, making his first Premier League start of the campaign in Saturday\u2019s 2-1 comeback win against Brentford.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not my decision whether I start the next game or not,\u201d said the defender, who provided the assist for Scott McTominay\u2019s winner. \u201cI\u2019m unsure on that. I\u2019m sure in a couple of weeks I\u2019ll go back and find out.<\/p>\n
\u201cListen, if you look back on my last 15 to 20 starts for club and country, I would be happy to sit here and say \u2018I\u2019m really happy with my performances\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy record under this manager speaks for itself. I haven\u2019t started as many games as I\u2019d like, but my win percentage when I\u2019ve played is ridiculously high.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd of course there\u2019s times when I can do more and times when I can improve and help the team, but, yeah, I\u2019m just wanting to help the team.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m wanting to help the team get out of this position that we\u2019re in at the moment and hopefully we can do that in the coming weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maguire benefitted from a string of defensive absentees as he made just his ninth Premier League start since Ten Hag arrived.<\/p>\n
The Dutchman has always spoken positively about the defender in public, saying in August that he \u201chas the abilities to be a top-class centre-back\u201d and must \u201cfight for his place\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can only do what I\u2019ve been doing in terms of when I\u2019ve come into the team, bringing positive performances,\u201d Maguire said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve started two games this season and come on in a few off the bench, but, yeah, keep working hard in training.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe manager can only watch training and make his decision from training and the games when I get the opportunity to play.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll keep working hard, I\u2019ll keep pushing. I have great belief in myself.\u201d<\/p>\n