Ander Herrera reveals Louis van Gaal gave him the confidence to take his first-ever penalty in the 3-1 win over Liverpool

The Spaniard duly stepped up to score

Ander Herrera and Louis van Gaal shake hands after the game (GETTY IMAGES)

Manchester United midfielder Ander Herrera has revealed that the penalty he scored against Liverpool in the 3-1 win on Saturday was the first of his career, after manager Louis van Gaal had given him confidence to step up and take one.

The 26-year-old scored in the 70th minute to make it 2-0 to the hosts.

"Never, never," Herrera told MUTV when asked if he had taken a penalty before.

"But the manager last season gave me the confidence. He told me I had the quality to take penalties and I have practiced every week.

"And, today, when I received the penalty, I thought the number-one taker isn’t on the pitch, I’m the second taker so I’m happy for that. But, next time, if the number-one taker is on the pitch I won’t be taking it.

Ander Herrera scores from the spot against Liverpool (GETTY IMAGES)

"I tried [to put some force behind it] because I knew in advance that [Simon] Mignolet is a big keeper, very tall and very elastic,” Herrera explained.

"I tried to hit it as hard as possible and it was a good goal but the most important thing was the win."

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