Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has insisted that David de Gea is mentally strong enough to cope with the pressures of playing for Manchester United.
De Gea’s status as United’s first-choice goalkeeper has come under scrutiny following his latest high-profile errors in Sunday’s FA Cup semi-final defeat to Chelsea.
The 29-year-old faces competition from backup Sergio Romero and Dean Henderson, who has impressed while out on loan at Sheffield United.
But Solskjaer defended De Gea ahead of Wednesday’s visit from West Ham, insisting that his pre-match press conference would not be dominated by questions about the Spaniard.
“This is not going to become a David De Gea press conference. We’re just going to stick together,” the United manager said.
“David is mentally strong enough to know his job is to perform in training the next day and then be ready for the games.
“That’s your job to talk about and write about it, and my job is to prepare a team for West Ham.
“We’re not going to talk about individuals because no-one here will fear we put more pressure on them.”
Solskjaer added: “When you lose a game you’re hurt, disappointed, but you focus on the next thing.
“Defeat is not the end of the world, it was end of our FA Cup dream and hopes of getting to the final, but it’s business as usual and onto the next game.
“We’ve had so many setbacks as a club, we’ve games before and now we have to put on a performance.”
