As he stood just outside the players' entrance at the City Ground, there was a theme running through Diogo Dalot's answers to the media after Manchester United had beaten Nottingham Forest.
In a chat lasting just over four minutes, Dalot mentioned personality six times and character four times in ascribing those particular traits to United's gritty display against the relegation strugglers.
Coincidence? Maybe. But those kinds of words have been a feature of Erik ten Hag's language all season. In fact, it's just over a month since the Dutchman paired them together to describe the type of players he had wanted to sign in the summer transfer window, having noticed an absence of mental traits as much as technical gifts in the squad he inherited. READ MORE: Lindelof has a chance to regain his role at United "When you go to recruitment in the summer, we were looking for players with character, with personality.
It was not only about signing players," Ten Hag said at the start of March. "A lot of players in the world have great skills from a technical approach, or they can run really fast, but we were looking for players who have character, who have personality, who have leadership, take responsibility, who are resilient.