Under-fire Erik ten Hag insists he retains the backing of Manchester United players after the club banned journalists who reported the manager had lost some of the dressing room.
A lifeless defeat at Newcastle was United's 10th of the season across all competitions, a record not matched since the club were relegated 50 years ago.
Four media outlets on Monday reported that Ten Hag had lost the confidence of up to half of his players, with concerns over his style, tactics and signings.
Those four were informed on Tuesday morning that they had been banned from the manager's press conference set up to preview the midweek Premier League clash against Chelsea.
United said the action was taken for not "contacting us first to give us the opportunity to comment, challenge or contextualise", adding they believed it was "an important principle to defend".
Asked if he believed he still had the requisite buy-in from his players to be successful, Ten Hag said: "Oh yes, I'm sure.
"But you can see, for instance, the comeback against Brentford, the Burnley game, the Fulham game, so every time the team is there, showed great character.
"Great determination, resilient, so yeah, we are together. And you can see you can't play such great football what we did lately if there is no unity."
