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Ferguson has also been switching between de Gea and Andreas Lindegaard in the search for a replacement for van Der Sar. Since the turn of the year, though, de Gea has been played consistently by Ferguson. He has also been hitting the gym on a consistent basis in order to beef up. One of the major struggles for de Gea has been in the crosses and set pieces. The time spent in the gym has paid off well according to Ferguson, who praised the goalkeeper after his impeccable performance in the 2-2 draw with West Ham.

“David is No 1 now, definitely. You have to thank our goalkeeping coach Eric Steele. The big improvement is in the physical part. He has put on nearly a stone in muscle, is much stronger and deals with the physical part a lot better. His first game last season was away from home against West Brom. The referee felt he was a young goalkeeper, who was not used to English football. There was a laxity in terms of protection for him,” said Ferguson, whose team are extremely close to winning the 20th league title.

Video Score: five / five

In the match against Chelsea, United had started well and at one stage, the Red Devils were leading by 2-0. But, in the second half, they played poorly and Chelsea managed to bounce back with a couple of goals in a space of 9 minutes.

The Blues could have taken a match winning lead of 3-2 in the 90^th minute, but, David De Gea didn’t let them do that. He showed great skills to stop Juan Mata’s flat shot and the scores remained at 2-2, and tae the game to a replay.

The tie is now delicately poised, with Unibet, the sports betting company, giving both teams exactly the same chance of going through to the Semis.

Talking to the reporters about that save, Ferguson said, “That was a superb save by the young man. That was a key moment and that goal could have secured their victory. But, David with his fine goalkeeping skills didn’t let that happen.”

“David has been in good form in most of the matches that he has played in this season. He has saved quite a few goals during the critical moments.”

Ferguson admitted that his team didn’t show enough intensity in the second half. The United manager said, “We had played a highly intense game against Real Madrid just a few days ago. The players had to do a lot of running in that match. So, they looked a bit slow in this match especially in the second half.”

For United, the two players who found the back of the net were Javier Hernandez (5^th minute) and Wayne Rooney (11^th minute).

For Chelsea, the goal scorers were Eden Hazard (59^th minute) and Ramires (68^th minute).

United will play its next match at the same venue against Reading FC on Saturday.

The £ 18 million transfer fee, which is a British transfer record for goalkeeper, put a huge weight on his young shoulders during the initial stages of his United career. As a result, de Gea turned out with several inconsistent performances that questioned his future at Old Trafford. Ferguson constantly rotated between de Gea and Lindegaard in the hope of finding a replacement for Edwin van Der Sar.

Since the turn of the year, though, things have been on the up for the former Atletico Madrid man. He has been the first choice goalkeeper on a consistent basis, and he has responded with several good performances. Many are now tipping him online to take home the Goalkeeper of the Season award.

His best performance in a Manchester United shirt came in the 1-1 draw with Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu. He has said that February has been an excellent month for him, and he cannot wait to maintain this level of performance. His displays against Fulham and Real Madrid have also earned him the player of the month award from Manchester United.

“It’s very good to have the support of the fans, so I’m happy to win this award. I can hear the supporters during the games so I know they’re singing about me. I’m very grateful for that. I think we’ve been very good in defence as a whole and have been keeping some clean sheets. I think my favourite save from the last month was definitely the one with my left hand against Real Madrid, when I pushed Fabio Coentrao’s shot against a post,” said the 22-year-old, who has 20 appearances to his name this season.

Video clip Rating: five / five

Following the decision by the Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes to leave the club at the end of his contract, there have been suggestions that Barcelona will be looking to take the 22-year-old back to Spain. However, De Gea has ruled out any such possibility of leaving Manchester United by saying that he remains the number one at the club. Ferguson has yet to decide between David de Gea and Andreas Lindegaard for the role of replacing Edwin van Der Sar, who retired more than 18 months ago. It is expected that Ferguson will be dropping De Gea to the bench for the FA Cup fourth-round match against Fulham during the weekend.

“From the moment I signed I considered myself the first-choice keeper at the club but it’s down to the manager. He rotates us when he feels it’s good for the team. But obviously I’ve played a few on the bounce now and that’s positive. For a goalkeeper it’s always important to have consistency and to be playing regularly. It’s good for confidence and morale,” said David de Gea. So far, he has made 15 appearances this season, which is slightly more than the eight appearances made by Lindegaard.

Video clip Score: 3 / 5

Video clip Score: four / 5

However, he will be required to work extremely hard and hope that luck plays a part if he wants to return to the United first team in the near future because the manager has suggested that Lindegaard will be the preferred choice for now. Ferguson has stressed the fact that the team is in need of a consistency when it comes to the goalkeeper. Due to the fact that Lindegaard has not made any mistakes in the last four matches, he will be persisting with him for now. Ferguson has also stressed that this is not a long-term decision taken by him and David de Gea certainly features in his plans for the future.

“Anders has done well. It’s one of those situations where there is no actual reason to leave Anders out in terms of form and, hopefully, David understands that at the moment. But there is no long-term issue. I really think that creates consistency. That’s why I’ve kept Anders in on Wednesday night. I could easily have changed it again but Anders has done nothing wrong. I’m going along with him at the moment because he is not letting me down,” said Ferguson ahead of the match with Reading.