Erik ten Hag reacts to Man Utd fans' pointed banner shown before last-gasp win at Fulham

Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag insists his players must set “the highest standards” as he directly responded to a ‘Play Like You Mean It’ banner from the club’s fans.

United won 1-0 against Fulham at Craven Cottage thanks to a last-minute winner from Bruno Fernandes. The result has eased some of the pressure on Ten Hag, who is looking over his shoulder after suffering humbling 3-0 home defeats to Manchester City and Newcastle.

Red Devils fans made their feelings known about United's poor form by holding up a banner that read "play like you mean it" before Saturday's game. Whilst United won the game with a late winner, the pressure is very much on ahead of a crucial Champions League away clash at Copenhagen.

“The players made their efforts but there can always be more,” Ten Hag explained to reporters on Wednesday. “We expect the highest standards at Manchester United when you are a player, staff [member] or manager. Our fans expect high standards. They expect that you win every game. And when you’re not playing well, you still have to win.”

Midfielder Scott McTominay said of the banner after the match: "We saw the banner before the game, and a few of us said to the rest of the lads that these fans pay good money to come down and see us play.

"They support us every single week and we just want to repay them the best we can. Obviously, things aren’t going super well at the minute but we'll use this win as a building block to get better, with the manager and his coaching staff that we trust a lot. We can go on, kick on and do better."

He added: "It shouldn’t just be this game, but when everyone is against you, you have to come together and fight like dogs and that’s what we did today. It’s a building block we can work with