Stoke boss Mark Hughes has questioned whether some of Manchester United's players have the right mentality to turn things around at his former club.

United have faced some heavy criticism, and their manager Louis van Gaal is under considerable pressure, after a poor run of results and longer spell of uninspiring performances.

The Red Devils have lost their last three games in all competitions, have not won in six and were booed off after losing to Norwich last weekend. They have crashed out of the Champions League and slipped to fifth in the Barclays Premier League.

There was always an expectation that we were going to win. We didn't hope to win. We expected to win, no matter who we went up against

Former United forward Hughes, whose Potters side take on Van Gaal's men in the Boxing Day lunchtime kick-off at the Britannia Stadium, was quoted in a number of national newspapers as saying: "I don't know what it's like there now. I've not been in that tunnel with them.

"But there was always an expectation that we were going to win. We didn't hope to win. We expected to win, no matter who we went up against.

"I don't know if that's their mentality at the moment. I suspect most of them have that. But if you're new to the club and you're trying to find your feet, and there's a period of transition for you as a player, and there's a new group at a big club, then maybe some of them haven't quite got it."

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