'Should probably take one in the face' - Pogba apologised to Man Utd team-mates for giving away soft penalty, says Maguire

Harry Maguire says Paul Pogba apologised to his Manchester United team-mates after giving away a penalty in Wednesday's 1-1 draw against West Ham.

The Hammers took the lead at Old Trafford when Pogba blocked a shot with his hand, allowing Michail Antonio to convert from the spot.

United pulled level early in the second half when Mason Greenwood fired past Lukasz Fabianski, but were unable to take control of the Premier League encounter.

Although Maguire feels the penalty was harsh on Pogba and the Red Devils, he says the France international has taken responsibility for the mistake.

"You could say it was a natural reaction from Paul. Should he do it? He probably should take one in the face, but he has apologised, he held his hands up and knew that he shouldn’t do that," Maguire told Sky Sports.

"It was soft because it’s probably not ending up in a goal, they’ve been given a penalty and got an amazing opportunity to take the lead."

He added: "We came here wanting three points so we’re disappointed. When we play at Old Trafford we want to win every game.

"We started the game really well, on the front foot, we dominated the first 30 minutes. We should really try and score but we always need the ball to bounce for us or be more clinical in front of goal and we conceded a soft goal and made it hard for ourselves.

"It was a good reaction at the start of the second half, [but] we huffed and puffed and we weren’t good enough. We gave the ball away far too much and maybe ran out of steam a bit.

"The momentum of the game just kept stopping, sub after sub, drinks break, VAR, we couldn’t get any flow to the second half, I’m sure their players would say the same. It just felt like we played for three minutes and then stopped for a minute. We can’t make excuses.

"The schedule has been ridiculous. I think we’ve played four games in nine days or something, but it’s no excuse. We’re fully prepared. We started with a high intensity. We haven’t been starting games well, we’ve been finishing them a lot better.

"I wouldn’t say we’ve run out of steam. We’re already well prepared and got a huge game on Sunday and we’re looking forward to it."

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's team are third in the table heading into Sunday's season finale against Leicester, who are just a point behind.

With a place in next season's Champions League at stake, Maguire says his side will be ready to face the Foxes.

"It’s a big game. They’ve had a great season and got themselves in a great position," he said.

"A few months ago you probably wouldn’t have seen us catching them but we’ve had a great run ourselves. It’s disappointing tonight and against Southampton. It was disappointing not to win either of those games, but we’ve got ourselves in a great position.

"Six months ago you would have snatched someone’s hand off to go to Leicester and have an amazing opportunity to get Champions League football, which we set out to do. We’re ready, there’s no excuse for us to be tired. It’s a big game, if you can’t get up for that game then you’re in the wrong sport."