Manchester United defender Harry Maguire is encouraged by recent clean sheets but maintains that his side must defend set pieces better.
The Red Devils have conceded ten goals from set pieces this season - the joint-third most in the league - and the club captain said they have been "poor from set-plays".
However, United's defence has kept clean sheets in their last three games in all competitions and Maguire - an £80m signing from Leicester City last summer - is pleased with the partnership he has formed with Victor Lindelof at centre-back.
“We’re keeping a lot more clean sheets than we were at the start of season and we’ve never really been a team which has conceded a lot of chances,” the 26-year-old told Manchester United's website.
“We’ve been poor from set-plays with our defending and we’ve had a couple of great goals scored against us from outside the box, but we haven’t really been having games where David [de Gea] has had to make five or six saves, apart from maybe the Carabao Cup second leg against [Manchester] City, when David was brillaint."
Maguire has played in all 25 of United's league games this season and has partnered Lindelof in 23 of those matches, and he added: "It’s a partnership that’s building and I think we’ll get better and better, and start keeping more clean sheets like we have been doing recently."
Sweden international Lindelof echoed Maguire's comments, saying: “It’s great to play with Harry. He’s a fantastic player and it’s great to partner with him.
“We want to win more games and I think, for every game we play together, we become better and better.
“Hopefully, we can keep improving and help the team get more clean sheets and get more results.”
Manchester United return from their warm weather training camp in Marbella, Spain to face top-four competition Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Monday evening.
