Manchester United defender Victor Lindelof has said that he is grateful for being able to realise his "dream" of playing for the Red Devils.
Lindelof, who joined United in June for £31m, struggled to settle under Jose Mourinho at first, and was rarely afforded a spot in the manager's starting team.
The Swedish international has started each of United's last three games, however, and told Sky Sports News that he "wakes up happy" knowing that he is part of the Old Trafford club's setup.
"Coming here to play at this great club has been a dream for me since I was a kid, so yeah - I enjoy it every day," the 23-year-old said. "I wake up every day and I'm very happy I get to come here and do what I love. I don't take anything for granted, I work hard every day. I'm just trying to do my best every day, work hard and improve.
"When you're given the chance to play, it's always nice to be out there and help the team, and I'm just happy to be out there doing that. We have world-class players in every position and I think that's very important to have. This club is one of the biggest clubs in the world, so you're obviously going to have that.
"Every game is difficult here. Every opponent is going to work hard, fight for 90 minutes to try to get three points, and that's what makes the Premier League such a good league, the level of competition. It was a bit different in Portugal, we had only a few big games during the season.
"We want to win as many games as possible and of course, you always want to come first. But if not, second is there, and that's what we have to work for. We're improving as a team every day. It's important for us to play a lot of games, and just keep going."
United play Crystal Palace on Monday evening with the chance to reclaim second place in the table from Liverpool, who defeated Newcastle United in their latest fixture.
Jonny Whitfield
![Close-up image of Jose Mourinho looking irate [NOT SUITABLE FOR ARTICLES]](https://sm.imgix.net/11/29/1x1.gif?w=1&h=1 "Close-up image of Jose Mourinho looking irate [NOT SUITABLE FOR ARTICLES]")
