Erik ten Hag hails Man United's mentality as they aim for a 10th straight win at Crystal Palace

It's eight months since Erik ten Hag turned up at Selhurst Park to watch Manchester United for the first time after being confirmed as the club’s new manager.

Ten Hag sat alongside football director John Murtough for the 1-0 defeat to Crystal Palace that day as United ended their worst ever Premier League campaign in what was also interim manager Ralf Rangnick’s final game in charge.

United were on their knees. Rangnick said the squad needed the football equivalent of major heart surgery, and Ten Hag could have been forgiven for wondering what he had let himself in for.

The Dutchman returns to South London on Wednesday night having masterminded a complete transformation at Old Trafford, both in terms of results on the pitch and the mood off it.

Ten Hag’s side will go above Manchester City and Newcastle into second place behind leaders Arsenal if they can record a 10th successive victory in all competitions for the first time since Sir Alex Ferguson won 11 in a row in 2009.

Saturday’s dramatic comeback in the Manchester derby was another sign that United have developed the character and self-belief so typical of Ferguson’s greatest teams.

‘I’m convinced of that,’ said Ten Hag. ‘Teams need experience to build that mentality, to build that belief, that a game is only over when the ref whistles for the last time.

‘To stay in the game, you have to construct that and you need experiences like that (the derby) to improve even more and push it even more to a higher level of mentality.’

Ten Hag allowed his players to celebrate beating City, but has been quick to bring them back down to earth for the trip to Palace.

‘I think every win you have to celebrate. If you can’t celebrate, you kill the energy,’ said the United boss. ‘But we had to settle down after 24 hours and move on to the next game.

‘At Selhurst Park, with the atmosphere there it’s a difficult place to go. You have to be 100 per cent. Palace are a physical team and they will battle us from the first moment on. So we have to be really focused and have the right energy levels to beat them, that’s quite clear.’

United will return to London on Sunday to face Arsenal, and Ten Hag must decide whether to risk Brazil duo Casemiro and Fred on Wednesday night because both midfielders are one booking away from a ban.

United are assessing Anthony Martial’s fitness which could affect Wout Weghorst’s chances of making a debut after cutting short his loan at Besiktas to move to Old Trafford for the rest of the season.