Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has defended the form of goalkeeper David de Gea, after the Spaniard's mistake in yesterday's 1-1 draw at Everton.
A De Gea kicked clearance came off the outstretched leg of Toffees striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin in the third minute to allow the hosts to open the scoring.
A goal from Bruno Fernandes just beyond the half-hour mark ultimately earned a point for United, with Calvert-Lewin seeing a late goal disallowed by VAR as it was judged offside.
Solskjaer faced questions on de Gea in his post-match press conference, defending his number one while also speaking highly of his backup options - Sergio Romero, and on-loan Sheffield United shot-stopper Dean Henderson.
"We want the best possible squad for Man United. David for me is the best goalkeeper in the world.
"Dean is a very good challenger and Sergio is a challenger as well. We want a squad that’s full of quality with competition of course and if you want to survive at the top you need to bounce off competition from right, left and centre.
"Dean is our player. He is doing really well at the moment and the day he comes back he’s obviously fighting to play here as well. But for me David showed on Sunday his reaction and the way he made amends and saved that chance from Sigurdsson at the end.
Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (left) and goalkeeper David de Gea react after the final whistle during the Premier League match at the Etihad Stadium, Manchester."He went through a difficult patch last season but David has been very, very good this season. I can’t really remember any errors apart from the Watford one. I trust him 100 percent in the goal.
Solskjaer also spoke about his defensive options, with Ivorian Eric Bailly set to earn more game time in United's upcoming games.
"Eric has been out for a long, long time. We have one of the best clean sheets stats in Europe and Victor [Lindelof] has been a big, big part of that with Harry.
"Eric has played well when he’s played and will get more games probably, but it’s important that we get him 100 percent fit before we demand a game every three days from him."
The Norwegian boss also addressed the captaincy, saying Harry Maguire leads by example in his squad.
"For me Harry has earned the armband because of the personality he is.
"He’s always known from the day he walked through the door that I’ve looked at him as a leader in this group. Maybe it helps, he’s definitely taken the role on really well and I’m very pleased for him."
Up next for United is an FA Cup fifth-round away tie against Wayne Rooney and Derby County on Thursday, before the Manchester derby at Old Trafford next Sunday afternoon.
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