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Three men that will lift United

matautdblgoDavid Moyes has insisted that Juan Mata, Wayne Rooney and Robin Van Persie are the men that will lift Manchester United out of the doldrums and the doom and gloom that has crippled the champions this season.

Mata, a £37.1m signing from Chelsea, made his long-awaited debut against Cardiff last night, while United also welcomed back Robin Van Persie after a 11-game spell on the sidelines, with Wayne Rooney also returning to the first team fold after overcoming the groin injury that had forced him to miss the last three weeks.

Van Persie was back on the scoresheet within six minutes and looked comfortable throughout, before being replaced by Rooney with an hour gone and United already 2-0 up.

The England striker showed no sign of rustiness as he twice went close to extend United’s lead, while Juan Mata lasted 83 minutes on the pitch on his Manchester United debut and while he only seldom flickered, his first game in a red shirt was a largely positive display.

David Moyes was delighted to have his strikers available and he believes Rooney and Van Persie together with Mata will turn United’s fortunes around in the remainder of the season.

“To have Robin on the pitch after his injury, Mata on his debut and Rooney on the bench, I think everybody could see that things look much better already now than it had been over the past few weeks,” said the United manager.

“I think Mata will be a great addition. He can play off the left, off the right and behind the striker, but at this moment in time I’m not really too bothered where he plays, as long as we can fit him in, get him playing and get him making chances, which he did [last night].

“He created some brilliant opportunities, especially in the first-half. He’ll be great for us, especially once we get Robin and Wayne back up to full match fitness. And Juan himself, he hasn’t played much in the last month or so.

“With Wayne and Robin coming back into the squad, and the addition of Mata, hopefully they’ll make us much better.”