Fernandes on Keane criticism: It motivates me

Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes said he has plenty of respect for the Premier League club’s former skipper Roy Keane but he wants to do things in his own way after the Irishman criticised his work rate.

Fernandes, who was named man of the match for his performance in United’s 3-0 win at relegation-threatened Leicester City in the Premier League on Sunday, was criticised by Keane in an appearance on the Stick to Football podcast.

The 30-year-old Portugal midfielder has often been criticised for his on-field demeanour and has admitted in the past that his gesticulating and complaining can rile up both teammates and opponents.

“I do things in my own way,” Fernandes told Sky Sports. “Obviously it’s not nice to hear those things about you, but at the same time it motivates you and obviously people think there’s a lot of things you need to improve.

“Obviously not everything I do everyone will like or think in the same way and I respect everyone’s opinion and I have huge respect for Roy Keane and I accept there’s a lot of margin for improvement in my game, in my leadership and everything I do in my life.”

Fernandes has scored 16 goals and registered 15 assists in 44 appearances across all competitions for United this season. He netted once and provided two assists in their victory over Leicester.

United are 13th in the Premier League with 37 points from 29 matches.

“He’s a special guy in that aspect, he is always ready, he can recover quite well,” United manager Ruben Amorim said of his captain. “I don’t know the future but I’m reading what the performance department tell me, the numbers, and then what I see in the game.

“I always see a Bruno that is dangerous and one Bruno that can recover in every situation. So he is going to stay there. I already knew Bruno. What surprised me the most is the way he works every day.”