Manchester United skipper Harry Maguire rejects former captain Roy Keane's assertion that the team lacks leadership and heart.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's men will look to continue their perfect start to the Champions League group stage at Istanbul Basaksehir on Wednesday amid a poor start to the Premier League.
United may have a game in hand but 15th spot remains well short of expectations, with Sunday's 1-0 loss to Arsenal seeing them start a season with four winless home league matches for the first time since 1972/73.
Club great Keane was watching from the stands as part of his role as a pundit and was cutting in his assessment of his former club, saying he does not "see guys you want to be in the trenches with, guys you trust".
The former midfielder said he was worried as he did not "see any leaders out there right through the whole team" – comments rejected by current captain Maguire.
"Well, I can say I haven't seen his comments, but we don't look on what's happening, especially after a negative result," the United skipper said.
"We don't bring the negativity into the place. We stay positive.
"I can for sure say there is a lot of leaders in the squad. I am the captain and I've got a lot of leadership around me as well, staff and players, so, for sure, there’s a lot of leaders in this squad."
Solskjaer was also asked about Keane’s remarks, with the United boss avoiding criticising his player or former team-mate.
"Roy has always been outspoken and I'm very glad that I've got the players that we have here with us,” the Norwegian said ahead of the Group H trip to Turkey.
"We've got different jobs and Roy's job is to give his opinion and I always listen to Roy.
"But we move on here with a great group of players, strong group of players, and I’m sure we’ll see a response."
- TEAMtalk media