Manchester United hero Mikael Silvestre has defended Harry Maguire and Jadon Sancho.
Maguire has struggled since returning from injury, while Sancho has been relegated to bench for the majority of this season.
However, Silvestre thinks both players have legitimate excuses from their recent travails.
"Harry was injured and he came back when there was a lack of confidence and the team started conceding more goals than usual," he told MyBettingSites.
"He wasn't able to stop that. So being the captain, he needs to be on top of his game all the time and to protect David [de Gea].
"Over the course of the season, there's going to be a time when you're not going to be at your best, so hopefully this is the time he will respond.
"It's important that he stays [in the team]. He hasn't been awful, he just hasn't been as good. His standard is higher than what we've seen over the last two or three games."
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