Soccer:David de Gea is confident Manchester United will make up for their Europa League disappointment by winning the Barclays Premier League.

After doing so much to keep United in their last-16 tie with Athletic Bilbao at Old Trafford last week, even De Gea could not prevent a 2-1 defeat that sent the Red Devils tumbling out of a second UEFA competition in a single season.

It means United, like chief rivals Manchester City, have only domestic supremacy to play for now. De Gea is confident though his team-mates will come out on top. “It is very important for us now to try and secure the Premier League.

“We are first. We are the leaders. Manchester City are in good form but we have the team and the supporters to win the league. We have a big game coming up at Wolves on Sunday and that is what we must concentrate on now.”

At least on a personal level, De Gea had nothing to reproach himself for even if his return to Spain did not go as he would have wished. There was more evidence of the 21-year-old starting to take command of his penalty area and slowly he does feel the adjustment from Spain to England is being made.

“The English league is a bit more aggressive but football is football,” he said. “There is no real difference. Little by little I feel my confidence in England is growing. In the beginning it was all new, the place, the country, the team. But gradually I am getting used to everything and hopefully that continues.”