Forlan insists he will hit goal trail

Diego Forlan insists he will hit the Manchester United goal trail.

The £7.5m (€11.9) capture from Argentinian outfit Independiente struck four goals for United’s reserves in a 5-0 win over Blackburn’s second string last night having finally broken his first-team duck at the 27th attempt with a late penalty in the Champions League win over Maccabi Haifa last month.

Forlan has appeared in each of United’s games since then, starting only once against Charlton, but has not managed to add to his tally.

The 23-year-old may have his critics, but manager Sir Alex Ferguson retains intense faith in the Uruguayan and four goals in the reserves show the goalscoring touch has not deserted him completely.

The striker admits he has taken some time to settle into Premiership life but did not let his growing number of games without a goal affect him.

He had no hesitation in accepting the responsibility for the spot-kick against Haifa, when failure to convert would have increased the pressure on him markedly.

And he insists as long as he keeps the same disciplines which earmarked him as a star during his teenage years, there will be few problems.

“It will come,” he said.

“It is always nice to score. It would have been better if it had been a goal in open play rather than a penalty but penalties can be saved or missed, so they still count.

“I put a bit of pressure on myself last season because I wanted to score before the summer.

“I didn’t manage that but I have just told myself to keep working and doing the things I did when I first started playing, then when I moved to Argentina and then when I got into the national side.

“The game is different in England but if I do that, I should be fine.”

Of Forlan’s 32 first-team appearances for United, 24 have come from the substitutes’ bench, often for mere minutes.

He did get half a game in the 2-1 win away to Bayer Leverkusen after Ruud van Nistelrooy’s premature departure, but spent much of the night scurrying about up front on his own as United sat back and tried to soak up German pressure.

“People talk about the number of games I have played but I haven’t started that many,” he said.

“Sometimes you come on in situations where the main aim is to keep the ball away from the opposition rather than create chances.

“You do get chances but it is rarely the same as when you play all the game,” he told MUTV.

Forlan insists he is only feeling pressure to score from himself and is delighted with the backing he has received from United’s supporters.

“The fans have been incredible,” he added.

“I don’t know why I’m so popular – I didn’t score a goal for ages and they still like me.

“I hope they stay behind me for a long time and I give them lots of goals to cheer.

“Sometimes you just need a little bit of luck. Sometimes you’ve got to work a bit harder on your finishing.

“I’ve missed some chances but I just need to keep doing the same things and the goals will eventually come.”

Forlan is well equipped to handle the taunts from the tabloids and opposing fans, having seen first-hand the sometimes frightening treatment players receive in Argentina, a country still recovering from an economic crisis.

“You get to see all the bad things happening over there on the news and you might get afraid, but if you’re living in the middle of it you just adapt,” he added.

“Argentina is a very nice country so it’s a huge pity that so many things are going wrong.

“The pressure is different in Argentina – you need to win because if you don’t the club might not pay you. Then there’s the fans – if you don’t win they get really mad and threaten things.”

The atmosphere at Old Trafford seems relaxed by comparison, and Forlan must rediscover his cool in front of goal.