Daley Blind spoken out about his favoured position at Manchester United, noting that he prefers featuring as a left sided centre back.

The Dutchman struck up a promising partnership with Chris Smalling under Louis van Gaal but spent the majority of last season at left back.

Injuries to Marcos Rojo and Phil Jones during the latter stages of the campaign forced Jose Mourinho into playing him at left back.

And Blind, when asked about where he feels most comfortable on the pitch, noted he was happy to play anywhere but insisted that centre back was his ideal role.

“I just want to play, and where the manager needs me, I do my utmost best and give everything I have,” he said.

“I think the people know that I have a little bit of a preference to play left centre-back. If I play left-back all season, I would be happy there too, but for me it is just important that I am close to the team.

“I want to play. I want to start. That’s the thing I work hard for and that’s what makes me happy. For me it’s simple, I want to play and be on the pitch and want to do everything for that.”

Mourinho has never endorsed the idea of Blind as a centre back, opting for strength over craft when it comes to that particular role, but with Chris Smalling‘s future uncertain and Rojo set to be out until the new year, he may once again have no choice when it comes to using Blind at the back alongside either Eric Bailly or Victor Lindelof next season.

This isn’t necessarily a bad thing: the Dutchman’s acute positional sense and intelligence on the ball more than makes up for a lack of speed and strength. Some of United’s best performances last season – the Europa League final springs to mind – came with Blind pulling the strings from the back, after all.