Manchester United full-back Ashley Young says he has asked manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to play him further up the field.
Young has established himself as a capable wing-back, featuring largely on the left last season, and now on the right during the current campaign.
After joining United as a winger in 2011, Young has played 231 times for the club, scoring 18 goals and providing 42 assists. But as his career has developed, the 33-year-old has moved back into a more defensive role.
There was talk of Young moving back to the forward line at Crystal Palace on Wednesday, but youngster Diogo Dalot was chosen to play out of position at Selhurst Park in a makeshift front three.
Despite that, it was Young who was found at the back post late on to seal a 3-1 win in front of the delirious travelling fans.
And Young has revealed he prefers to play on the wing, rather than at full-back.
He told United Review: “I still see myself as a winger. I still say to Ole in training: ‘I’m a winger or a no.10!’.
“We played young v old in training the other day and the older ones won, and I was right midfield for that, so maybe Ole might put me there!
“As I’ve said before, you’ve got to adapt nowadays. Different managers play different systems and you’ve got to be able to play in different positions.
“I’ve got a decent footballing brain, so I can switch positions as long as my legs keep getting me up and down the pitch. I feel as fit as any of the young boys who are out there and I’ll continue to give 100 per cent.”
With United’s injury problems meaning Solskjaer‘s wide options will be limited again for the visit of Southampton, Young may be asked to play in his favoured forward role.
But Young admits that the game will not be easy, and the onus is on United to secure the win – wherever he is picked to play.
He continued: “It’s never easy when you go down there [to St. Mary’s] and it’s never easy when they come here,”
“When teams do come we’re full of confidence and I think we’ve got that fear-factor back in us here.
“Teams come and sit behind the ball and it’s down to us to break them down, and I’m sure if we go out there and play as well as we can do then we’ll be able to get the three points.”