Marouane Fellaini admits he felt he became the fall guy for David Moyes’ disastrous season at United.

But the big Belgian says but the World Cup has helped him rebuild his status.

After a calamitous 2013 summer transfer window following Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement Fellaini became Moyes’ last-minute import from his old club Everton.

In Moyes’ and executive vice chairman Ed Woodward’s first buying window, United were on the case of Cesc Fabregas and Tony Kroos.

It whetted the fans’ appetite and there was even speculation that Cristiano Ronaldo was on the club’s wanted list.

It was a seemingly wild notion never denied by the club that fed the frenzy.

In the end, the arrival of just Fellaini was a let-down for the United support. The fact Everton managed to bump the fee up to an over-priced £27m just added to Fellaini’s problematic introduction.

As Moyes’ era slid into freefall, the 26-year-old midfielder, dogged by injuries, became the publicly-ridiculed face of United’s demise. There was even derision from the Old Trafford stands when Moyes picked him.

When the former Reds boss got the bullet last Easter it seemed inevitable that Fellaini’s brief United career would fopllow a similar course via a summer sale.

But he survived Louis van Gaal’s first transfer window and after an early-season injury is fighting back and winning friends and influencing people as the Dutchman’s flexible engine room friend.

“When you are playing you are always happy. So I am happy at the moment. I have worked hard and will work hard to play every game. After that the manager will then decide which player plays,” said Fellaini.

“I agree last season was tough. There was a new manager and it was difficult for all the players but we have another new manager now with a new philosophy and we have to work hard.”

Fellaini clearly doesn’t want to go down the road of using the Moyes link last term as an excuse.

But when asked if he had felt something of a scapegoat for the previous manager’s struggle he conceded: “Yes a little bit. But that is a difficult question. It is difficult to answer that.

“Last season, though, was a difficult season for me. But I didn’t lose faith in myself. In football you have to be strong in the head. The mentality is important and I do have this quality so I can keep going.”

Nevertheless, Fellaini needed the boost of a decent World Cup in Brazil for Marc Wilmot’s Belgium side to give him the platform for a second crack at his United career.

He appeared in all five of Belgium’s matches in South America as his country made it to the quarter-finals before being knocked out by Argentina.

His World Cup stats included a goal against Algeria in their opening match and he gave United fans a new view of his capabilities.

“My family helped me through last season but then the World Cup helped me a lot,” he added.

“The manager of the national team and the players helped me and it was a great experience for everybody. I played well and the team also played well. For my confidence that was important. I came back after the summer confident.”

Despite Fellaini’s World Cup form, the good money was still on the midfielder being sold during Van Gaal’s rebuild at Old Trafford.

But he refutes the idea he was ever on his way out of the Reds door in the big £155m shake up that Van Gaal sanctioned on his arrival.

“It was all speculation. In football it is like this. That’s what happens there is always speculation,” he added.

“But I signed for Manchester United for four years and the manager never said to me that I had to go so I worked for my place and that was it.

“The manager said to me I would have to fight if I wanted to play. I did fight and trained hard and that was it. When I got my chance I tried to show myself and tried to do my best.”

Despite an ankle injury at the start of the season that set his challenge back while Van Gaal’s newcomers got a head start establishing themselves in the post-Moyes era, Fellaini has fought his way back into United’s starting XI in the last three matches against Chelsea, City and Crystal Palace.

“I am fit now and that is why I am better. When I am super-fit I will be better I am sure,” he said.

“I was injured earlier this season. They said I had to have surgery but I didn’t. It was a bad injury but now I am better and I can look forward.”His aim now is to prove just why Moyes brought him from Goodison to Old Trafford.

“Of course, there is a determination to do that. That is why David Moyes bought me. He knew my qualities. He knew what I can do and that is why I am here.

“I am more comfortable here now. I know the players and the people who work in the club and that is important.”

Just as Fellaini had a tough introduction to life at United, so new boss Van Gaal is toiling to get his ideas working on the pitch.

But the Belgian international knows it will take time for the Dutchman’s strategies to start bearing fruit.

“His philosophy is about organisation and keeping the ball better. You have to close down when you lose the ball. It is a new philosophy,” he said.

“When you bring in a new manager you have to wait because it is not easy to bring in a new philosophy but we are working hard in training. The manager has a lot of meetings to help us improve so we will see what happens in time.

“For me at the moment the manager is using me as a box-to-box player and I am trying to score. On Saturday against Crystal Palace I played a little bit more up front as a number 8. Then for the last 20 minutes I played at number 6 alongside Daley Blind. I can play different positions.”

Marouane Fellaini was speaking at the screening of ‘HUNGRY TO WIN,’ Japanese animation created by Nissin, Manchester United’s Official Global Noodle Partner.