Peter Schmeichel won 10 major trophies while at Old Trafford

Manchester United legend Peter Schmeichel has praised the improvement made by the side under Jose Mourinho.

United sit sixth in the Premier League, just four points off the Champions League places, and have not lost in the top-flight since Chelsea beat them 4-0 at Stamford Bridge in October.

Mourinho's side have also reached the final of the EFL Cup - where they will take on Southampton at Wembley on February 26 - while they have also progressed to the fifth round of the FA Cup after cruising past Wigan 4-0 on Sunday.

These achievements have impressed Schmeichel, who expected the progress made under Mourinho to take longer than it has done.

"I think it's been fantastic, I expected it to be another bumpy year. Jose has inherited a squad of players and he will have had to assess every one of them," he told Sky Sports News HQ.

"He is doing that quicker than I thought he would have done. Plus, the four additions in the summer [Eric Bailly, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Paul Pogba], they have all been really good.

"We are getting back to a Manchester United way of playing, which I didn't expect so quickly, so I am optimistic for the future."

Schmeichel, who played 402 times during his time at Old Trafford and won 10 major trophies with United, says Mourinho has attempted to adopt a more attacking style of play, one he feels is more in keeping with the club's footballing traditions.

"I think Jose has always tried to protect the lead but it is not in our DNA to [do so], it's to get number two, number three and number four," he added.

Schmeichel is impressed by the progress made under Jose Mourinho

"[But] he has sent the players out to get two, three and four. It's great to watch and hopefully it's going to be evolved and developed.

"I would be very disappointed if we are not top four. There is a lot of progress, the team is shaping up and the club is getting back into its own rhythm, its own groove."

See for yourself how much progress the club has made under Jose Mourinho. Watch Leicester v Manchester United on February 5. Coverage begins on Sky Sports 1 HD at 3:30pm.