De Gea acknowledges United's squad depth

The Spaniard was impressive in United’s 3-0 win over Bournemouth, making multiple fantastic saves to deny Cherries forwards Philip Billing and Jaidon Anthony from bringing their side back into the game. Playing behind Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof, De Gea managed to keep another clean sheet.

Erik ten Hag’s men will play at least another four game in the month of January, including an Emirates FA Cup tie against Everton this Friday. Speaking to MUTV, United’s no.1 believes his side are ready to embrace the challenge, as we have the numbers to rotate players in and out of the starting XI.

“For me, it is good.” said De Gea of the schedule. “For me, I am happy to go to the game, have some recovery, go to the game. For me, that is fine. But at the end, you see some players tired, so it is not easy for the team. So, you have to try to recover as soon as possible and prepare the game quickly because there are three games in a row. It is tough, but that is the Premier League and the FA Cup, everything is as it is now. So, we have to be really focused and we have a bigger squad so everyone has to be ready to play.

“It doesn’t matter who played the game, everyone is willing to play for the team. Even the substitutions today, they have been great, they helped the team and that’s my feeling. I feel really happy with all the players. I think we are doing really well.”

De Gea was excellent in the 3-0 win against Bournemouth and has now kept clean sheets in three consecutive matches. When asked about his side’s performance against the Cherries, the Spaniard believes that, despite a few mistakes from his side, we came together as a team to see out the victory.

“I think, at the end, we conceded too many chances, but we played the first half well," he added. "We scored a good goal from a free-kick. Then the first 20 minutes of the second half, we controlled the game. We scored the second goal but we lost a bit of tempo in the game. I think the players feel a little bit tired, I think they created some chances. Of course, they have a good team of player in the front and created some chances. But I think we controlled the game quite well and it's a big three points for us.

"The whole team deserves the clean sheet. For example, we changed the centre-backs, they play really well. So, it doesn’t matter whose playing. I think the most important thing is feeling like we are a great team, everyone is in the same direction, everyone is playing and training at 100 percent. So, it is great to see a team like this and let’s keep up the momentum and keep playing like today and winning games.”

David marked his 510th appearance for United in style, going equal with Joe Spence and is now only 19 appearances from equalling Dennis Irwin in ninth place. When talking about where he would like to end up on the list, De Gea is keen to get nearer to the top of the chart to cement his legacy with the Reds.

“It is a huge honour to be in the top 10 appearances for this club," he admitted. "It’s something crazy. I am feeling really well. So let’s see if I can reach the top ones and keep enjoying and keep playing well and helping the team.”