Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal has revealed that he gave his players an extra day off this week to ensure that their heads were clear before their Premier League clash against Crystal Palace.

The Red Devils have lost their last three matches on the spin, which has put them under slight pressure to hold off Liverpool in the race for the final Champions League spot.

Van Gaal does not believe that his players' confidence has been affected by their slump in form, but has called on them to produce their best until the end of the season to secure fourth place.

"To clean their heads and recover the body," Van Gaal told reporters. "They had an extra day, because of the three defeats in a row.

"You can never prove that [confidence is low], so it's a guess, always a feeling and so on. But we played these three matches not in a bad way.

"Against Chelsea we played our best match, so I don't think the confidence is lower than before, but we have to finish."

United take on Palace at Selhurst Park later today.