Bruno Fernandes believes Manchester United are heading in the right direction after his hat-trick sealed a 4-1 Europa League win over Real Sociedad at Old Trafford.

United struck back after Mikel Oyarzabal’s 10th-minute penalty had given the visitors the lead and capped another promising display on the back of their weekend draw with Arsenal.

Fernandes told TNT Sport: “Confidence is a big thing in football and maybe at this club even more, because you know how much you are in the eyes of everyone, so you have to have the confidence to perform at the highest level.

“But the main thing is that we have to back ourselves at the highest level in the dressing room and the training ground and everyone has to understand that we’re here for each other.”

An injury-time effort from Diogo Dalot completed United’s emphatic win and sent them easing into the quarter-finals, providing another much-needed boost for boss Ruben Amorim.

Fernandes added: “Obviously we want to perform to our best but at this club it is all about winning and to win in this competition there is no option – we are in or we are out.

“We have a long way to go still but we are confident that if we focus on every game we have the right mentality to keep winning games.”