Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has admitted that some of his players are struggling for confidence following Tuesday's 1-1 draw with Everton.
The Red Devils needed a stoppage-time penalty from Zlatan Ibrahimovic to rescue a point against the Toffees as their hopes of finishing in the top four took another blow.
United have now drawn nine of their last 13 home Premier League matches - and five of their last six - and Mourinho acknowledged that his side's lack of belief resulted in them resorting to long-ball tactics by the end of the match.
"If we compare the second half with the first half, the second half was much better. And it was difficult to improve, because I could feel some of the boys a bit in trouble by the confidence levels," he told reporters.
"When the confidence levels are not high the quality of the performance is not easy to improve so we had to go through a short cut. We started playing in a way where we don't feel so much the lack of confidence of some of the boys, so we start playing more direct.
"We tried everything and in the end the goal arrived. From the points point of view it is not that important - zero or one doesn't make a huge difference - but it is a good feeling for the boys not to lose."
Mourinho's United now have the club's lowest home win rate since the 1973-74 season, when they were relegated from the top flight.
Barney Corkhill
