How Harry Maguire made his Manchester United comeback ahead of Newcastle fixture

Harry Maguire should be proud of himself for forcing his way back into the reckoning at Manchester United.

That's according to Erik ten Hag after Maguire was nominated for the Premier League Player of the Month award for November. Ten Hag is, incidentally, also in contention for the manager's accolade.

Putting early-season woes behind them - at least domestically - United have now won five of their last six games with three straight clean sheets to boot and Maguire has been a constant feature in that run. Made available for transfer this summer, the 30-year-old rejected a move to West Ham after United had accepted an offer worth £30million.

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He was also removed as captain and replaced by Bruno Fernandes, but the £80million ex-Leicester City man went on to win back his place in the team.

He has started the last six Premier League matches. The only time United have dropped points during that run was in their 3-0 defeat to Manchester City in the season's first Manchester derby.

Speaking about Maguire in his Q&A for MUFC media, Ten Hag said: "Absolutely. He's been very important.

"He fought back [into the team] and showed great mentality. He can be proud of himself but, as I said, we are in a season and in the right direction, Harry's in the right direction with his team.

"Now we have to make the next steps. We want to be successful and Harry's very ambitious.

"He wants to win trophies. [To do that] You know you have to give every day your best."

Maguire started his career at Sheffield United and played for Hull City and Leicester before his big-money move to Old Trafford in 2019. The centre-back has