Juan Mata is excited for Manchester United's return to Old Trafford this weekend.

The Red Devils will face Crystal Palace on Saturday afternoon. It will be their first encounter at home since playing Everton on October 28.

Mata wrote in his weekly blog: "International football has finished and this week we get back to our day-to-day routine to focus on our next game and train with the team. For me, it is a wonderful routine because I am lucky enough to to be able to dedicate my time to something that I'm so passionate about like football. I'm fortunate.

"I've looked back and we haven't played at Old Trafford since October 28th, which was more than three weeks ago. It's been a long while and the team misses it, as you'd expect when your home is somewhere so special. You want to get back to playing there as soon as possible and put in a good showing for the fans. After such a long time, we are heading towards two consecutive home matches. This week we play Crystal Palace, before three days later we go up against Young Boys in the Champions League.

"We aren't going to fall into the trap of thinking that these are games that are easier than others, we are going to play knowing the importance of them, motivated to keep moving forward and to get into December in good spirits. In the last month of the year we have plenty of fixtures and it is key to get to this part of the season in good form in England to ensure you have a more successful campaign."