Harry Maguire contradicts Man United boss Erik ten Hag as brutally honest captain laments 'story of our season'

Harry Maguire has called for a solution to Manchester United's striker problem - despite manager Erik ten Hag downplaying the issue.

After a disappointing 2-1 defeat at home to Fulham, with Alex Iwobi scoring the winning goal in the 97th minute, Maguire voiced his concerns. The absence of £72million striker Rasmus Hojlund was keenly felt, and with Anthony Martial also injured, Marcus Rashford was put up front but only touched the ball 27 times.

Ten Hag had previously said that United didn't need another striker, leading fans to call him naive. And speaking to BBC Sport after the English Premier League defeat, Maguire said: "We got hit by the injury to Rasmus, who has been big focal point for us but it is up to us to find the solutions and the areas we need to improve on. He has been our focal point. We can play into him, he holds it up, he starts the press really well, not only that but Marcus has been playing really well on the left. It's the story of our season, we've been injury-hit - as other teams have - and we need to find a solution quick."

With Anthony Martial's contract coming to an end it looks like United might get a new striker when summer comes. Ten Hag has said he really wanted to get another striker in January but couldn't because of money rules called Financial Fair Play.

He stated: "When I got the news about Anthony Martial, start of January, I really tried to get another striker in because we are vulnerable there. But FFP was the thing [stopping us]. We couldn't do it."