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Paddy McNair has told Jose Mourinho how to get the best out of him after revealing how Sergio Busquets shaped his breakthrough at Manchester United.

The Northern Ireland international first came into the first team under Louis van Gaal two seasons ago when he was thrust into the senior side in the midst of a defensive crisis.

McNair was used mostly at right-back or centre-back by the Dutch coach but struggled to hold down a place in the first-team squad last year, not helped by an injury picked up while playing for his country.

His club situation has not affected his chances with Northern Ireland though and the 21-year-old is in the midst of preparing for the European Championships , which start later this week.

Michael O'Neill has been using the United academy graduate in a holding midfield role, a move that seems to have been beneficial to all parties.

The player feels he has improved from training against the quality he faces on the training pitch every day at Carrington, and the coach has been told that United have been pleased by his performances for Northern Ireland.

More importantly, it is a position that McNair feels natural in as he looks to show the new Reds boss what he can do ahead of an important summer.

"I think of myself as a midfielder, to be honest," he said .

"I think that's my best position. I was always a midfielder playing for Ballyclare [Colts].

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"I think I'm a better player now than I was at the end of last season. Physically, I feel I'm better. It's good to train with some of the world's best players every day. It has definitely improved me."

If McNair sees himself more as a midfielder, he has one of the current game's greatest to thank for his switch to defence.

As the youngster was making his way up through the academy, one night involving Sergio Busquets saw the United lad's prospects take a turn.

"Until I was 16 or 17, I was always really small, the smallest in my age-group,' he said. "No joke. I was so thin and small. I looked 12 when I was 17.

"We had a practice game against Burnley pre-season when I was a second-year scholar. I was still 17. Barcelona were on the night before and Busquets played centre back. The manager [Paul McGuinness] saw that and played me centre back and it kind of went from there. I'd had my growth spurt by then and I was tall and lanky.

"I played midfield and centre back for the youth team, and then played there for Warren Joyce the reserve team manager. I wasn't in the reserves for long."

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