Bruno Fernandes has suggested no player's position is safe at Manchester United under Erik ten Hag, with those not working hard under threat of being pulled out of the team.
Portugal midfielder Fernandes has been a regular at Old Trafford since joining from Sporting CP in January 2020. He signed a new deal in April and has played 79 games out of a possible 82 since the start of the 2020-21 season.
This season, though, senior players have been left out for a variety of reasons. Club captain Harry Maguire and last season's top scorer Cristiano Ronaldo have both dropped out of the starting line-up, and Fernandes understands every member of the squad is at risk if they don't meet Ten Hag's high standards.
"[Ten Hag] brought discipline to the team and we had a lack of discipline the last few times," Fernandes told Soccer AM. "He brought something that everyone always has to be aware of his position and aware of if you're playing or not.
"You don't have time to rest," the 28-year-old added. "You have to work hard and train hard and if you don't you're going to be pulled out of the team."
Fernandes has started all six of United's league games this season, completing the full 90 minutes on five occasions, and scored his first goal of the campaign to beat Southampton at St Mary's in late August. The Portugal star also featured in both of his team's Europa League games, starting against Sheriff and playing the second half at home to Real Sociedad.
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Fernandes was speaking ahead of Sunday's Manchester derby, the first for Ten Hag since he took over at Old Trafford. The former Ajax boss previously worked with opposite number Pep Guardiola at Bayern Munich and has responded to previous suggestions that he could replace the Catalan at Manchester City.
"That’s a nice compliment, first," Ten Hag said. “But I choose, 100 per cent convinced Manchester United, with everything in it. I didn’t regret it for one second.
"First of all, it's most important that no person is the same, so I have to stick by myself and then, I learn a lot from many human beings in football, especially from top coaches. I admire Pep a lot because he's not only successful, he's doing it in a certain way that really attracts people to football and that's a reward."
City did the double over United last season, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in the United dugout for the Old Trafford meeting and Ralf Rangnick in charge at the Etihad Stadium. Guardiola's team won 2-0 on the road in one of Solskjaer's final United games, and 4-1 at home during their run to the title.
