Ralf Rangnick has come to the defence of Harry Maguire after the Manchester United captain came in for criticism for his recent form..
Former United defender Rio Ferdinand singled Maguire out for criticism after more dropped points against Burnley, and Maguire himself admitted Jay Rodriguez's equaliser "was a disappointing goal on our behalf to concede".
It wasn't the first time this season that criticism has flowed in the direction of the £80m centre-back, with a needless red card in the defeat to Watford before the end of the year just one of the other examples.
However, ahead of a meeting with difficult opponents in Southampton, Rangnick stood by the former Leicester City man and backed him to rediscover his best form.
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"Harry was injured for two-and-a-half weeks," Rangnick noted when addressing the display.
"He had a good game against West Ham and I'm sure he can perform at the same kind of level against Southampton."
After starting the home victory over Burnley before the turn of the year, Maguire sat out the Premier League defeat at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers and the league and cup games against Aston Villa before returning against Brentford on January 19.
"I think he’ll be disappointed," Ferdinand said of Maguire's part in the Burnley equaliser.
"First half, he looked assured, him and Raphael Varane very assured as a partnership. They were the dominating team but second half the team didn’t come out at the races.
"You can make it easy by doing the basics right, they didn’t do that, they gave the ball away, the intensity wasn’t there and they got overran five-10 minutes into the second half. The goal was poor on Harry’s part."
However, Rangnick was keen to stress the goal wasn't the fault of just one player, after his United team were caught out on the break.
"Yes, we could have defended that transitional moment better than we did but, in the end, it was a negative chain reaction like in most goals that teams conceded.
"We should not have allowed this counter-attack to happen, not connecting the players well enough and high enough and we didn't defend at the end when it was two vs one and we shouldn't have allowed him to go through in that moment, but it can happen," he said.
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The dropped points against Burnley saw United drop out of the top four, with West Ham United taking their place, while Arsenal's victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers on Thursday was enough to bump Rangnick's side down to sixth.
The game against Southampton comes before United's rivals take to the field, though, so a victory can help them put the pressure on those above them.