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Rafael says he and his fellow Manchester United players must take the blame for their poor season - not boss David Moyes.

Reigning Premier League champions United managed to avoid losing four straight matches for the first time in 53 years with a 2-0 win over Swansea on Saturday.

But that victory left them in just seventh spot, five points off the Champions League places and seemingly out of the title race as they are 10 points behind leaders Manchester City.

Moyes has been criticised since leaving Everton in the summer to succeed Sir Alex Ferguson, with United losing six times in the Premier League, as well as exiting the FA Cup at the first hurdle.

But Rafael said the fault lies with the players, not the new man in charge.

“I don’t know why everyone is looking at the manager,” said the Brazilian full-back. “It’s the players who have to do the job on the pitch.

“We’ve spoken about it a lot. We have to show our quality. People are saying United don’t have a good squad. We have to show that is not true.

"We have to be consistent. We have been up and down a lot. To win a title or to get in the top four we have to play every game like we did in this one. To have three losses in a row - and two of them at Old Trafford - is not normal.

“We are together. We knew there would be a change. The manager had just left after 27 years. It was always going to be hard.

“We have to take the mentality David Moyes has given us and use it on the pitch. It’s quite a big difference. David Moyes has a strong mentality. He is doing his own job. We have to use that in a positive way.

“We are the ones who have to take the responsibility, like we did in the second half against Swansea.”