Alan Smith has insisted he has no intention of leaving
Manchester United for any other club and is determined to force his
way into the team. The 25-year-old rejected a loan move away from
Old Trafford in January, with Cardiff and Smith's former club Leeds
interested in a short-term deal.
Smith said: "I am not leaving, it is as simple as that. There has
been a lot of speculation but I am going nowhere. "I feel I'm good
enough to play in this team. I have always believed that." Smith
added: "The manager gave me the option to go out on loan but I
didn't want to. "I am sure he thought it was in the best interests
of both myself and the club but I told him I believed I was good
enough to play in his team when I am fit and he accepted
that."
After overcoming serious injury suffered in an FA Cup tie at
Liverpool last February, Smith now appears to be ready to challenge
for a place in the team. The striker played 70 minutes of Tuesday
night's charity match against a Europe XI - which United won 4-3.
And since the departure of on-loan forward Henrik Larsson, back to
his Swedish club Helsingborg, Smith senses an opening, particularly
as Louis Saha and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer are not yet fit from their
respective injuries.
Smith said: "If I had gone on loan and Ole and Louis had been
injured and Henrik had gone, we would have been down to one
striker. "There would have been nothing worse for me than to leave
and be somewhere else when this club was short on strikers. "I
don't want to be on loan somewhere else and miss the games coming
up when I feel I can be an important part of this squad."
