Ruben Amorim has accepted Manchester United are in a relegation battle after their 2-0 defeat to Newcastle United and admitted his “focus is on survival”.

United suffered their fourth consecutive defeat in all competitions and third consecutive defeat in the Premier League at Old Trafford on Monday. This puts Amorim’s team in 14th place in the table, just seven points above the relegation places.

“I think (the team) is a little lost at this moment, so it’s a little embarrassing to be the manager of Manchester United and lose a lot of games,” Amorim said. “But we have to deal with difficult moments in everyone’s life, so it’s a tough moment.”

“I think people at this club have had enough of excuses and I think that’s why I talk about relegation sometimes.”

“We have to recognize our position the way you look at the league, that anyone can beat anyone, so we need to win games and focus on survival. I think our club needs a shock, you know? He needs a shock, and we did it” to understand that.

Goals from Alexander Isak and Joelinton saw United trail 2-0 against Newcastle within the first 20 minutes. Amorim responded by replacing Joshua Zirkzee after just 33 minutes, with the Dutchman loudly jeered by the home fans as he walked away.

“It was a very difficult moment (for Zirkzee) and he is human,” Amorim said. “I bear responsibility. When you have moments like that, especially in the big clubs, you work really hard to change things, especially when you don’t have a lot of time to train the basics to deal with the difficult moments.” .

“It’s a very difficult moment and we have to fight for the next game and implement the idea of ​​winning games. I think it’s really tough for everyone and you can feel it on the pitch.”

“The lack of training and the lack of belief after so many defeats and some difficult moments, you concede a few goals at the start of the games and then it’s really difficult in all the games.”

The defeat to Newcastle handed United their worst-ever calendar-year points haul in the Premier League (51) and a trip to first-place Liverpool, who are next on the fixture list on Sunday.