Smalling happy to be man in the middle

Chris Smalling was delighted with the opportunity to play in his favoured centre-back role in Manchester United’s win over Otelul Galati.

The 21-year-old was signed from Fulham as a central defender in 2010 but has been deployed primarily as a full-back since the 2011-12 season began for the Red Devils.

But Smalling made a welcome return to the heart of defence in Tuesday’s Champions League fixture, but said he have no qualms if Sir Alex Ferguson moved him back to the flank in the future.

“It was nice to be back in central defence,” Smalling told Sky Sports News. “That is my favourite position and I want to play as many games as I can there.”

“But if I can contribute in any way, I will just give my best.”

United got their first win of their European campaign thanks to two second-half Wayne Rooney penalties, giving them a 2-0 away win in Bucharest.

A negative for manager Ferguson was Nemanja Vidic’s red card for a reckless tackle, which the Scot felt was more of a yellow card but accepted the referee’s interpretation.

Smalling admitted the sending off was unexpected, but also felt the pressure applied by the away team throughout the match paid off.

“I didn’t expect the red card but in Europe they are a lot more harsh,” Smalling said.

“We had to be patient. We didn’t create too many chances in the first half but we kept pressing and it paid off.”

“Wayne (Rooney) and Javier (Hernandez) were causing problems around the box. The opposition were starting to pick up yellow cards and we were penetrating close to goal.”

The current Premier League title-holders and last year’s Champions League runners-up face Galati again on November 2 at Old Trafford and Smalling is hopeful another win will propel them closer to the knock-out stages of the Champions League.

“That was a massive game and we play them at home next,” he said. “If we can pick up another three points it will look a lot rosier.”