Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has insisted that his team is edging closer to their Premier League rivals, despite losing to Manchester City at the weekend.
The Red Devils, who finished seventh in the table last season, suffered a 1-0 defeat to the reigning English champions on Sunday after going down to 10 men following the dismissal of Chris Smalling.
The loss at the Etihad Stadium leaves United in 10th place on 13 points after 10 games, which is the club's worst start to a season since 1986.
Despite the poor record, Van Gaal believes that he is guiding the team back to their best following their performance against City and in their 1-1 draw with league leaders Chelsea the previous week.
"In spite of all the injuries, we were very close with Chelsea last week and also this week we were very close, but not close enough, and we have to make steps still to improve," Van Gaal told reporters.
"Of course as a coach or as a manager you can be proud of the last 20 minutes because they showed unbelievable willpower and we could have scored at that moment.
"I have seen the willpower of this team that I said to the players is fantastic, but we have still only 13 points out of 10 games and that is not so much."
United, who are not in the Champions League and were knocked out of the Capital One Cup in the early stages, will take on Crystal Palace at Old Trafford on Saturday.
Danielle Joynson
