Manchester United squad reaction to recent setbacks shows values Erik ten Hag wants

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.

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"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. That is the type of players I was looking for after I analysed the squad."

Maybe some of Ten Hag's phraseology has begun to creep into the mindset of the squad. It would be no surprise if the manager himself had praised the players' character and personality for the way they refused to let an injury crisis knock them off course in Nottingham.

Ten Hag has regularly demanded more from his squad this season in terms of their attitude and mentality and it feels like as the campaign progressed, they are getting