Ole Gunnar Solskjaer feels Victor Lindelof is developing into a leader in the Manchester United squad.
Lindelof has endured a variable third season and was directly blameworthy for goals United conceded early on in the campaign, having received a new contract in September.
The Sweden international's knack for performing against eminent forwards continued in the 2-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur when he neutered Harry Kane. Lindelof drew praise last term for performances against Juventus talisman Cristiano Ronaldo and Kylian Mbappe of Paris Saint-Germain.
Lindelof, 25, scored at the weekend against Aston Villa and has started every league game he has been available for this season, amid competition from Axel Tuanzebe.
"He’s been proving critics wrong," Solskjaer enthused. "You’ll always have critics at Man United. If you score two, you should've scored three, if you win 3-0, you should've been winning 4-0.
"Victor's so calm and composed on the ball and that's part of our play, with him and Harry [Maguire], they're so important in the build-up, that we take some risks. Maybe the goal we conceded could have been avoided, that pass into Scotty that got nicked.
"But Victor scored a goal last week, he's becoming a leader in the group and playing more or less every single game, so I'm very pleased with him."
Anthony Martial was absent for the Spurs win through another injury after he came off against Villa on Sunday. The United manager was unable to provide a return date.
"I don't know, not sure," Solskjaer said. "Of course, you want to have your first XI, you wanna pick your best players all the time and I've done that once - in the Chelsea game, more or less. Maybe Wolves.
"It's a squad game and the subs are so vital. But with the injuries we've had, it's made it hard to have impact subs. But I thought Mason came on and did fantastic, Jesse is looking to his best again, Ashley really showed his experience for us, so the ones that haven't played did really well."
