De Gea says sorry after Manchester United's latest flop

NEW CASTLE: David de Gea apologised to Manchester United supporters after his troubled side slumped to a dismal 1-0 defeat at Newcastle on Sunday.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer´s side sit just two points above the relegation zone and have not won away since March after Matty Longstaff´s second-half winner for Newcastle.

United goalkeeper De Gea admitted this is the toughest time he has experienced since moving to Old Trafford in 2011.

The Spaniard was at a loss to explain exactly why United are off to their worst start since 1989.

"Yes, it probably is the most difficult time since I´ve been here," De Gea told Sky Sports.

"I don´t know. I don´t know what is happening, we cannot score even one goal in two games.

"It´s difficult to say something, sorry to the fans, we will keep fighting for sure. We will come back but at the moment we are in a difficult situation.

"The whole season has been not good, so keep going, keep fighting, and let´s see what happens in the next games."

Meanwhile, former United defender Gary Neville blamed the club´s transfer policy for their current struggles.

"Away from home, they´re not set up to win in a sense of the mentality. They let games drift, I think they play OK in games, but they´re not ruthless, they´re not clinical," Neville told Sky Sports.

"The quality is not right, the depth of their squad is not good enough and they have taken a step back.

"Their recruitment has been bad now and woeful. They need five or six top players into that squad, and are going to cost a lot.

"They (club board) have cocked this up over many years. They cocked it up, they are responsible for this, with poor recruitment and selection of managers."