Manchester United go into their New Year’s Eve clash with Middlesbrough on Saturday looking for a fifth successive Premier League win to end 2016.

Jose Mourinho’s side struggled at the beginning of the season to kill teams off, but they have started putting that right in recent weeks, and have such started closing the gap between them and the top five.

The 1-0 win over Tottenham was the catalyst for further victories over Crystal Palace, West Brom, and Sunderland, and they’ll go into Saturday’s game against Aitor Karanka’s Boro hoping to record a fifth win in a row for the first time under Mourinho.

The Red Devils are currently three points behind Tottenham in fifth, who are a further point adrift of Arsenal in fourth, yet their recent good run will give Mourinho’s men hope that they can break into the top four come May.

In what has been a solid if unspectacular year at Old Trafford, we thought we’d take a look back at United’s 2016, and have thus selected their THREE most improved players from the year…

Antonio Valencia

Antonio Valencia was signed as a winger when he joined Manchester United back in 2009, but has slowly but surely become their first choice right-back.

The Ecuadorian international missed the first couple of months of 2016 due to a foot injury he sustained last October, but immediately set about regaining his place in the side.

And several impressive defensive displays mean that he is now a dependable option for Mourinho at right-back.

The 31-year-old has started 15 of United’s 18 Premier League games this season, with an injury to his arm the only reason he missed the other three, and it’s clear that he has improved the defensive side of his game this season.

However, he has not lost any of his attacking intent, and always provides a good option out wide for United when needed.

Valencia has developed into a fine defender, and looks set for a key role in the United back four in 2017.

Marcus Rashford

This time last year, very few had heard of Marcus Rashford, but four days at the end of February completely changed his life.

The young forward netted a brace on his United debut in their 5-1 win over Midtjylland in the Europa League on February 25, before he scored twice in three minutes to help Louis van Gaal’s United beat Arsenal 3-2 on February 28.

Since then, Rashford has been an important member of the United team, and was often utilised upfront on his own under van Gaal at the rear end of last season, while Mourinho sometimes played him out wide at the start of this one.

He netted on his England debut against Australia in May and then went with the squad to the European Championships in the summer, but hasn’t quite been able to build upon those heights this time around.

Rashford hasn’t netted for United since September 24, but has still found the net four times for the club this season.

Nonetheless, he’s improved as a player since he took his chance in the Europa League back in February.

Ander Herrera

Arguably United’s player of the season so far, Ander Herrera has become Mourinho’s first choice central midfielder in the last few months.

However, he only started one of United’s first five Premier League matches, but has since then been an ever-present except when suspended against Swansea, and there’s good reason.

The Spanish international has struck an excellent partnership with Michael Carrick in the United midfield, with Herrera doing more of the so-called ‘dirty’ work, like making interceptions and covering more ground, while Carrick is able to control things with his composure and vision.

In fact, Herrera has made more interceptions this season than Chelsea’s N’Golo Kante, which is a sensational effort from someone who is often overlooked and undervalued by many football fans.

Even under van Gaal last season, we saw that Herrera had quality in that role, and now he is flourishing under Mourinho.