Man Utd midfielder Matic hails French forward Anthony Martial.

Martial has scored 14 Premier League goals and 19 across all competitions this season. [Sky Sports Screen Shot]

Manchester United midfielder Nemanja Matic heaped praise on hat-trick hero Anthony Martial.

The France international’s treble helped United secure a 3-0 win over top-four rivals Sheffield United at Old Trafford on Wednesday evening as they closed the gap on fourth-placed Chelsea to two points.

It was the first Premier League hat-trick for a United player since Robin van Persie back in 2013.

"I think it was very important for him to score goals, for every striker it's important, for his confidence," Matic told MUTV.

"I'm happy that our strikers are in good condition, tonight Anthony was man-of-the-match, every chance he had went in.

"Let's see in the future what he can do for us. But I'm happy for him. Congratulations to him."

Matic, who had a very good display alongside Paul Pogba and Bruno Fernandes in the midfield, added: "I think it's always good to play with top players. Not only them, we're lucky we have top players in every position.

"So tonight I played with Bruno and Paul, I think we did well, it was good there, I'm sure in the future we can improve a lot together, and also with Scott [McTominay] and Fred, whoever plays with us; I'm happy with the team performance and the way we controlled the game.

"I think we had control during all 90 minutes, of course, we knew they were going to have some dangerous counter-attacks because tactically they play well.

"We analysed them very well, we treated them with respect, I'm so happy with the team performance, 3-0 against a team who creates problems for every team in the Premier League."

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