Senne Lammens has responded to criticism from Paul Scholes and Roy Keane and revealed how he handles the spotlight at Old Trafford.
The 24-year-old has established himself as Manchester United's No. 1 since his £18.2million move from Royal Antwerp just over a year ago, but he has started to get some stick from club legends this season.
Scholes and Keane question the keeper
Scholes questioned whether Lammens was the No. 1 United needed to win the Premier League, while Keane had a bizarre pop at the Belgian goalkeeper for spending time on the Old Trafford pitch with his family after the derby day defeat to Manchester City last month.
"What team have you seen win the Premier League without a top-class goalkeeper?," Scholes said after United's 1-0 defeat to City.
"Lammens might be that, I don’t know, I think the jury’s probably still out on that. You need a top class goalkeeper. You think of Liverpool’s team with Alisson, City’s teams, Raya at Arsenal. Man United with Peter Schmeichel and Edwin van der Sar.
"They’ve all got brilliant, brilliant goalkeepers. You start from the back, of course you do."
Lammens responds with confidence
Lammens has excelled for Belgium on international duty this week and asked about the criticism from figures such as Scholes and Keane, he said: "Playing for United hasn’t changed my character. You do have to be mentally strong and have self-confidence in the face of all those people expressing their opinions. I can imagine that isn’t easy for everyone.
"I love playing all those Premier League matches. Premier League, Nations League… It doesn’t feel any different."
With Thibaut Courtois stepping away from Belgium duty during the Nations League, Lammens has taken his chance to shine and is on track to establish himself as Mark van Bommel's first-choice goalkeeper.
"We haven’t talked about it [Courtois] much," he said. "I think it is important to focus on the current matches and the players who are here.
"I think I am the number one now. It is important that I perform well and am ready immediately. I cannot control what the future holds. But I can control my performances."
