Manchester United players:

Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba on Saturday said it was high time the club got back its winning mentality, adding that the team’s recent poor run of form was unacceptable.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Manchester United’s dismal run of results in December had continued on Saturday with a third consecutive league draw.

They were held 0-0 at home to Southampton on Saturday.

The result meant the Red Devils dropped to third in the English Premier League standings below Chelsea who earlier thrashed an abject Stoke City 5-0.

“We wanted to win today, but we could only get the draw. We need to get back in the winning mentality, because it will be better for all of us.

“We didn’t have the final pass today, and we had a penalty kick that wasn’t given, and if we had that, and scored, it would’ve changed the game.

“The pressure is coming from behind, but we have to forget about everyone else, and focus on ourselves.”

United manager Jose Mourinho blamed the referee for the result, adding that even though United missed a lot of scoring chances, the referee also denied the team a clear penalty kick.

“I think it is also a disappointing afternoon for Craig [Pawson, the referee] because he’s a fantastic referee, one of the best in Europe.

“We missed easy chances, but I’m really unhappy with the penalty kick, not with Pawson’s performance -, Today, I think Craig had a good performance. It was a big decision to make from Craig.

“I’m happy with the players’ attitude, the players’ desires and I’m very happy with my place,” Mourinho said.

Meanwhile, Southampton manager Mauricio Pellegrino has said his players gave a good account of themselves, saying that his team would build on their performance in their next game.

“I think we were solid and we had our moments in the game. I think United had moments where they were uncomfortable on the pitch and we played really well.

“I think we can use this performance as an example for the next game. Today I think our positioning was good and we did very well.

“It’s not just the point that is important, it is important the way we played today and we have the possibility of bouncing back from difficult moments.

“This month was really difficult. We had injuries and troubles. So, I’m happy we bounced back from that. This is good news for us,” Pellegrino said.(Reuters/NAN)