Rio Ferdinand has come out in defence of Ralf Rangnick’s Manchester United squad after they were heavily criticised by his ex-teammate Gary Neville.

Neville gave a scathing opinion of the Red Devils after a poor performance saw them draw 1-1 against bottom side Newcastle on Monday night.

“The basics of the game, every single battle they’ve lost, that’s been a really poor performance,” Neville said on Sky Sports after the match.

This result came on the back of a narrow win over struggling Norwich City, but Rangnick has won two of his first three league matches after defeating Crystal Palace in his first game in the dugout.

Rio Ferdinand, who played alongside Neville at Old Trafford, believes his old teammate’s comments were unfair and, although the performance at Newcastle wasn’t great, that there were positives to take from the game.

“Against Newcastle we were poor and you can’t get away from that fact,” Ferdinand said on Vibe with Five.

“But it is still two wins out of three, albeit against Newcastle who have been the whipping boys for a lot of teams.

“But, a lot of the press that came out following that game… even one of my old mates Gary Neville.

“I thought we were in a relegation battle listening to the comments coming out of people and the way the mood around the club went to a negative place.

“Yes, we haven’t played a brand of football people that excites people or fans would have become accustomed to but it wasn’t like Ralf Rangnick was taking over a team in form.

“You fast forward to game against Burnley, you can say Burnley played badly but you’ve still got to perform. You know in this league you can be beaten by anyone.

“Manchester United are a perfect example of that at home. But they might light work of them. Manchester United had to go out there and perform and get three points.”

The Red Devils currently sixth in the Premier League table, but have played just 18 matches due to postponements caused by COVID-19. They take on Wolves on Monday night at Old Trafford.