Atlanta (USA), Aug 4 (IANS) Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes didn’t hold back after his side’s 2-2 pre-season draw with Premier League rivals Everton, criticising the performance as “lazy” and urging the club to bring in more reinforcements.

United looked set for a win in Atlanta, Georgia, after Mason Mount’s second-half strike restored their lead following Iliman Ndiaye’s equaliser to Fernandes’s opener. However, a bizarre 75th-minute own goal by Ayden Heaven handed Everton a share of the spoils.

The result slightly took the shine off United’s U.S. tour, which had previously featured encouraging wins over West Ham United and Bournemouth.

“It’s been important for developing how we want to play and getting the new players involved too. We didn’t want to finish in this way. Our performance wasn’t the best and we were a little bit lazy today. We want to avoid that because with laziness you can pay at any moment,” Fernandes told NBC Sports.

“It’s improving. But it’s not the place it needs to be. I don’t want to take a dig at anyone, but the club is doing the best they can in terms of the financial situation they talk about.

“But it was crystal clear we needed more competition for the players that were here and more quality to get everyone to step up a little more to get to the XI, and I think that is what the club are trying to do. Hopefully we can get one or two more players to help with that,” he said.

When asked about Fernandes’s remarks, manager Ruben Amorim told reporters, “I think I’m happy for the players to have that feeling. It’s saying that they understand the situation. So, it’s a good feeling.

“I think the momentum of the tour was perfect. We had the weeks to work with a good environment, good feeling, and then we go back to Carrington (training ground) and we are near to start the season. We are going with the feeling that we need to do a lot of things (better),” he added.

United will kick off their new Premier League campaign against Arsenal on August 17.

–IANS

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