It says something about the state of the Premier League at the moment that Sheffield United, a promoted club, will be the closest challengers to a potentially breakaway top four should they win Sunday afternoon’s home game against Manchester United.

It is Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s job to prevent that happening, as well as to discourage speculation that the best four teams in the country have already been identified and the rest of the season will merely be about the order in which they finish. Victory at Bramall Lane would at least take Solskjær’s side closer to the Champions League positions, and the manager admits his team need to do better against this calibre of opponent.

“We cannot afford to assume the top four will remain unchanged all season,” Solskjær says. “We’ve put ourselves in a difficult position as regards making it into the top four but, if you look at the games we have done well in, we have beaten Chelsea, we have beaten Leicester and we have drawn against Arsenal and Liverpool.

“For me we need to improve in games against teams who give us a different challenge. We have lost games this season when we have dominated but haven’t been able to find the openings for goals. Now we have Anthony Martial back we look sharper. If we keep him fit, it gives us a big chance to claw back some points.”

Solskjær believes his side turned a corner between the last two international breaks and hopes to see the improvement sustained in the important period between now and the turn of the year. “We have a lot of games coming up and some of them will be difficult,” he says. “We have Sheffield United who are ahead of us, Manchester City who are ahead of us, Tottenham who have now got José and Villa who are doing quite well.

“What we need now is consistency of performances. If we can keep up the standard we produced just before the last break I’m sure we can move up the table.”

Ole Gunnar Solskjær and Marcus Rashford have formed a positive relationship. Photograph: Eddie Keogh/Reuters

With Martial and Dan James back to ease the pressure on Marcus Rashford, Solskjær believes United are better equipped to play at the tempo he prefers. “They are all fit and they are all confident,” he says. “That’s important, because when you’re attacking quickly as we want to do we don’t have time to doubt ourselves. The players now are playing freely and on instinct. I know as a former striker that when you are struggling for confidence you tend to think twice or take an extra touch. That is exactly what we were doing six weeks ago. Now it feels more like, if you give us the ball, we will have a go.”

While returning players might have added sparkle to the United front line the midfield is currently an area of concern, with Paul Pogba, Nemanja Matic and Scott McTominay all missing through injury and the burden falling on the relatively slender shoulders of Fred. The Brazilian’s contribution since his arrival at Old Trafford has frequently been questioned, as has his outsize £50m transfer fee, though Solskjær feels the midfielder is growing into his role after a difficult start.

“I think Fred did well to start with, then when I came in he found it hard, then he had a very good period,” Solskjær said. “I think that might be expected when you bring a Brazilian to a new country and a new league after playing in Ukraine.

“He’s back to being good again now, improving all the time and becoming more confident. I think he is finding his feet and beginning to enjoy himself. You can see in training that he’s happy. He’s married, he has a young child, he’s learning the language and he’s at the biggest club in the world. It can all be a bit daunting to take in but you can see he believes in himself.

“Fred might not be the biggest, and obviously it is not his sort of game when the ball is up in the air, but he has shown in the last few games what his strengths are. He wins the ball and plays it forward, he has both creativity and tenacity. You really can’t blame him for the price either. That’s nothing of his doing. It’s just the way football has gone.”