Andreas Pereira relying on Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho to make him a winner

The 22-year-old received his first call-up to the senior Brazil squad on Friday

By Husmukh Kerai

Saturday 18 August 2018 12:00, UK

Manchester United midfielder Andreas Pereira say he is relying on manager Jose Mourinho to help him become a winner.

After starting in United's opening day 2-1 win against Leicester last week - ending an 897-day wait for a United appearance - the midfielder received his first call-up to the senior Brazil squad on Friday.

Pereira will be hoping to retain his place in Mourinho's first-team when they travel to Brighton on Sunday, live on Sky Sports Premier League.

The 22-year-old, who spent time on loan at Granada and Valencia over the last two seasons, feels he is now ready to kick on at Old Trafford and become a serial winner under manager Mourinho.

"We rely on him because he always prepares the team well," Pereira told MUTV. "He knows what to do.

"He is a winner and he always wants to win, so because he is like that we turn into that and we want to be like him, so we turn into winners as well so it's very important."

Nobody played more minutes than the Pereira during United's pre-season tour of America and his promise has led Brazil manager Tite to name him his 24-man group for their upcoming friendlies against United States and El Salvador.

"An honour that I cannot measure, a joy that explodes the heart, a dream that is realised today!" Pereira wrote on social media. "Thank you, God! Brazilian with pride and love!"

Despite his optimism, Pereira knows his United game time will come under threat when senior midfielder Nemanja Matic returns to fitness.

"I will try to do my best," he added. "And when Matic is back, of course he is an unbelievable player. I looked up to him since I was young, so I will see when he is back.

"But I will always be ready to play and to do my best for the team."

Matic and club captain Antonio Valencia returned to training on Thursday, but Mourinho says neither will be available for the trip to Brighton.

The Portuguese boss will also be without Marcos Rojo, Diogo Dalot, Ander Herrera and Sergio Romero as United look to make amends for last season's loss at Brighton.

"It will be for sure a difficult game but we will try to prepare for it as best as we can," Pereira added.

"I think if you want to think about the title you have to think about every game and we have to win every game.

"Just in this week, so many people told me 'last year we lost against Brighton', so we have to prepare.

"I think we are going to get more prepared than last year because we know we lost last season, so this year we don't want to lose. We want to win over there."