Ten Hag wants MU response in EL

The record 20-time champions are off to their joint-worst start

PARIS:

Manchester United will attempt to recover from another demoralising defeat that raised fresh questions over manager Erik ten Hag's future as they head to Porto in the Europa League on Thursday. The record 20-time English champions are off to their joint-worst start in the Premier League era, collecting just seven points from six games and scoring a mere five goals.

United also began their European campaign in worrying fashion, drawing 1-1 at Old Trafford last week with Ten Hag's former club Twente, a result midfielder Christian Eriksen said "feels like a loss". It extended United's poor run in Europe to one win in nine games after last season's disastrous Champions League display.

Ten Hag again pleaded for more time to turn the club's fortunes around after the 3-0 loss to Spurs on Sunday, but the Dutchman admitted his team were far below the standards expected.

"We have to show resilience because this is not good enough. We have to accept this and, from this point on, we have to do things better," said Ten Hag.

"It is always a new day. I told them, just in the dressing room, to come on. Tomorrow is a new day. We definitely have to learn, we have to do things better.

"I just focus on Porto. We close this (Tottenham) game down, deal with it and then we move on. We will turn this around. We will start all over again. The season is still very young, with many games to play."

Ten Hag is waiting to discover the extent of injuries sustained by Kobbie Mainoo and Mason Mount. "It's a side that always does really well in Europe, we have to be aware of that," Fernandes told MUTV.

"(They are) improving a lot in the last few games, even if they lost the last game in the Europa League."

"We expect a really difficult game there, but we go there to win because it's everything that we have to think about," added the midfielder who avoided a three-match domestic ban after his club on Tuesday successfully appealed his red card in the Spurs defeat.