Ruben Amorim gives definitive response to sack talk as Man Utd slump to 51-year low after disappointing defeat at Tottenham

United suffered a 12th league defeat of the season when they were beaten 1-0 at fellow strugglers Tottenham on Sunday. It was the eighth league loss in 14 games since Amorim was hired by the club following the sacking of Erik ten Hag and saw the Red Devils sink down to 15th in the Premier League table. The result and league position led to the Portuguese being asked whether he was beginning to fear for his position.

It is the first time that United have lost 12 of their first 25 games of a single season since 1973-74, when they were relegated from the top flight. The Red Devils are also on track for their lowest finish since that very same season.

Amorim told BBC Match of the Day: "I am not worried. I understand our fans, what the media think about it. I hate to lose, that feeling is the worst. The rest I am not thinking about. I am here to help my players. I understand my situation, my job, I am confident on my work and I just want to win games. The place in the table is my worry, I am not worried about me."

United's sudden injury crisis left Amorim with just one player on the bench with any senior experience with the club. Despite United trailing for most of the game, the coach did not make a change until bringing on 17-year-old striker Chido Obi in the 89th minute. He explained why he was so reluctant to bring on any of the youngsters, saying: "It is the hardest competition in the world. I am trying to be careful with them. You try to read the game, understand what you see in training. I felt the team was pushing for the goal and I felt I didn't want to change. But they will play."

The coach admitted that everything is going against him right now, with injuries biting hard and the team losing so often. But he said he hopes things will improve when his side are back in action at Everton next week. He added: "I have a lot of problems, my job is so, so hard here. But I stick with my beliefs. You grow and you learn a lot of things. We just need to face it and not run away, that is my feeling. Today will hurt, it is a tough pain to lose so many games, but then you can change things in a week."