Man United handed wake-up call as Ruben Amorim warned Man City still miles ahead

Manchester United have seen an upturn in form under Ruben Amorim this term following a flurry of transfer activity but have been told are still some way behind the top four

Ruben Amorim has been told that there is still a significant amount of work to be done if Manchester United are to break into the Premier League's top four.

United managed to salvage a draw at Tottenham on Saturday, thanks to a 95th-minute header from Matthijs de Ligt. Spurs seemed to have the game in the bag with Thomas Frank's team leading 2-1 in the dying moments of the match, following goals from Mathys Tel and Richarlison which cancelled out Bryan Mbeumo's opener.

However, De Ligt found an opening at the back post following a late corner kick, securing a point for the visitors. United head coach Amorim has received plaudits recently due to the club's improved form, which has seen them go unbeaten in five Pre‎mier League matches, lifting them to seventh place in the league standings.

However, former United goalkeeper Ben Foster believes there is still scope for improvement if they want to secure a top-four finish, particularly when compared to local rivals Manchester City.

Speaking to talkSPORT, the former Wrexham keeper said: "They look like they're playing with a lot more confidence than they have done for most of this season. But I just think when you contrast it with the quality of Man City, for example, it's very evident there's still quite a way to go."

When presenter Jeff Stelling questioned him about United's chances of breaking into the top four, Foster said: "I just think it's too competitive, I really do. There's probably a dozen teams in the Premier L‎eague who can realistically beat anybody on a Saturday.

"Even if you go down to the likes of Brighton, Bournemouth and Sunderland, you just don't know what you're going to get. They [United] should be aiming for the top four but whether that's a realistic target or not, it is just so hard to call."

However, despite his measured outlook, Foster believes United have raised their game under Amorim after a disappointing opening to the campaign. He also indicated that the United squad are now embracing the former Sporting Lisbon boss's philosophy.

Foster said: "We're seeing it all over the Prem‎ier League that putting a string of games together where you're winning consistently is really hard to do.

"Sometimes you just have to make sure you don't lose. For Manchester United, they would have lost that game earlier in the season. They wouldn't have had it about them to go and really search for that equaliser. I think it's a mentality shift in the players.

"They've all started to buy into it now from what the manager is saying. You can see when players play with that belief, that positivity and that confidence that you get better results for it as well."

Amorim suffered a setback against Spurs when summer arrival Benjamin Sesko sustained an injury after 85 minutes. The Slovenian striker had only come on shortly before the hour mark, with the United manager revealing the extent of the problem following the final whistle.

"We have to check. He had something in his knee, let's see," the Portuguese said. "I have no idea. Because it's the knee, we never know. I'm more concerned with an injury because it's in the knee and I don't know. We need Ben to be a better team."

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