Solskjaer: De Gea in the headlines for all the wrong reasons but he will play vs Huddersfield

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is standing by David de Gea and intends to start him in Manchester United’s clash with Huddersfield despite a number of uncharacteristic errors from the Spanish goalkeeper.

A usually reliable last line of defence has seen his position called into question on the back of a series of mistakes.

A Lionel Messi strike slipped through him during a Champions League meeting with Barcelona, before conceding four times away at Everton.

Leroy Sane then beat De Gea with a low drive during the Manchester derby that would normally have been kicked to safety and a tame effort by Antonio Rudiger against Chelsea was spilled into the path of Marcos Alonso.

There have been calls for a change to be made at Old Trafford, allowing a standout performer from recent years to take a break, but Solskjaer is in no position to tinker with his plans.

The Red Devils boss said at his pre-match press conference when quizzed on a selection call between the sticks and whether De Gea will get the nod: "I would think so, yeah, or he will play.

"Sergio [Romero] was injured yesterday so didn't train, tweaked his knee, so David's been training well this week."

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Solskjaer added on De Gea, who is yet to commit to a contract extension beyond the summer of 2020: "He's been fantastic this season.

"Towards the end now he's been in headlines for the wrong reasons but he has to deal with that.

"The goalkeeping department are fantastic, with Emilio [Alvarez], Sergio, Lee [Grant] and David, they've been such a tight-knit group. They've experienced better times than just now but he's ready for Sunday."

De Gea is a four-time Player of the Year at Old Trafford and has been a model of consistency during a period of much change in Manchester.

He is considered to have earned enough credit to play him through a sticky patch, with Solskjaer adamant that nobody inside the United camp has lost faith in the 28-year-old.

"What we discuss we don't need to tell everyone if it's positive or negative," he added on talks inside the squad.

"David's confident and looking forward to the next two games, he wants to prove how good a goalkeeper he is.

"The performances over the years, David's got all my confidence."

United head into a home date with Huddersfield on Sunday sat sixth in the Premier League table, three points adrift of fourth-placed Chelsea and running out of time in a bid to secure Champions League qualification for 2019-20.