Park Ji-sung admits the honour of leading out Manchester United for the first time on Thursday night was ruined by losing to Ajax.
South Korean admits experience soured by defeat
Park Ji-sung admits the honour of leading out Manchester United for the first time on Thursday night was ruined by losing to Ajax.
The 30-year-old was named as skipper in the absence of Patrice Evra and became the first man from South Korea to do so.
But his special night became a bitter-sweet memory after the side crashed to a 2-1 defeat to the Dutch side in the second leg of the Europe League tie.
"It was a great honour to be named Manchester United captain," he said. "It is not something I ever thought about doing, but I would have preferred the result to be better."
Despite the result United are safely through to a last-16 encounter with Athletic Bilbao next month.
Experience
Park says that with the Europa League tie safely behind them the team are able to focus all their attention on catching up Manchester City at the top of the Premier League.
A tricky tie away to over-achieving Norwich on Sunday is next before there is a crucial encounter against the other main challenger to their title in third-placed Tottenham.
But Park believes the experience of chasing teams down will help second-placed United in their race to replace City at the summit.
"From now on, every match in the Premier League is important," he said. "We have to keep pressing Manchester City.
"We have experienced this kind of pressure before. It is a big advantage for us that we have that kind of experience.
"That is the biggest difference between Manchester City and us and we have to see how they deal with it. Hopefully it will help us win the league."
