Smalling wary of away goal

Chris Smalling admits that Manchester United sit in a difficult position ahead of Tuesday's UEFA Champions League clash with Marseille.

United must win the tie at Old Trafford following a 0-0 draw in the first leg, a scoreline leaving them exposed should the Ligue 1 side find an away goal.

Despite a number of high-profile returnees for the crunch tie, the Red Devils only need look back one season and elimination at the hands of Bayern Munich as a painful reminder of falling foul of the away goals rule.

With a potentially nervous evening in store, Smalling is aware that Sir Alex Ferguson's men must walk the tightrope between attack and defence.

"It's a bit of a dangerous scoreline with the way the away goals rule works," he told United Review.

Edgy

"It makes things interesting for the neutrals, but a bit nerve-wracking for the players and the fans.

"You could see that Marseille wanted to keep a clean sheet and they were well set up in that sense. They're a good side. It was an edgy game over there with neither side wanting to give the other too much encouragement.

"From our point of view we need to keep things tight at the back because if they score it'll mean we need to score twice.

"You don't want to risk conceding the away goal, but I think the manager will want us to go at them.

"Being at home is a massive advantage for us and we're confident of going out there and getting the result."