New Manchester United signing Nemanja Matic has said that it was "special" to make his unofficial debut for the club during Wednesday night's 2-1 pre-season win over Sampdoria.
Matic was named in the starting lineup for the match in Dublin and lasted 45 minutes on his first appearance in a United shirt following his summer move from Chelsea.
The Serbian faces a race against time to get up to speed for United's European Super Cup clash with Real Madrid in Macedonia on Tuesday, but he insists that he will try his best to be ready for the game.
"It was nice to play in front of our supporters - I think there was a full stadium of Manchester supporters. That was special for me and I'm happy to make my debut for such a big club like Manchester United. It was strange [not playing in pre-season] because the team has played and had a good pre-season but, as you know, I trained alone in London," he told MUTV.
"I tried to give my best to control the game well, to give the balance, and I think, for the first game, it was good for me. Step by step, I think I will get better and better and I hope I will help the team to achieve something this season. I must say thanks to the guys. They've helped me to already become part of the team and they are all nice guys. I think the staff have also helped me a lot, and I say thanks to them because they've accepted me very well already.
"I have played at a few clubs in my career but the guys are amazing and they are good friends between themselves and I'm happy to see that. I will try to be 100% ready. I will try hard , I hope that I will be an option for those games, but we will see. We still have six days but I'm sure that everybody is ready and I will try to be 100% ready, and I hope that we can do something for this club."
United's first match of the new Premier League season comes at home to West Ham United on August 13.
Barney Corkhill
