Manchester United have now lost 12 of their first 25 league games this season – the last time they had lost so many at this point in the season, they were relegated in the 1972-73 campaign.

Ruben Amorim says that Kobbie Mainoo is expected to be ruled out for “weeks” with Amad Diallo expected to miss the rest of the season after injuring his ankle.

“It’s hard to know,” he said. “Let’s wait a few more days. I think [Leny Yoro] and [Christian Eriksen] were sick so they will recover.

“I think we will recover that and the rest we will see. I think Kobe is out. I don’t know. Let’s see. I think weeks.

“Amad is out for sure. I think until the end of the season, we will see the rest. “

Ruben Amorim bemoaned how hard his Manchester United job was after his injury-hit team lost 1-0 at Tottenham on a day where Amad Diallo was ruled out for the rest of the season.

Diallo sustained an innocuous ankle ligament injury in training this week but was not the only absentee in north London with Kobbie Mainoo, Manuel Ugarte and Toby Collyer unavailable with knocks, while Leny Yoro and Christian Eriksen were ill.

The aforementioned six joined the likes of Lisandro Martinez, Luke Shaw and Mason Mount on the treatment table, which left Amorim with limited options at Spurs as he largely named a bench full of teenagers and watched his team lose for a 12th time in the Premier League this term to drop to 15th.

“I have a lot of problems. My job is so hard but I’m here to continue my job to the next week with my beliefs. I will try to do it, I will try to win again,” Amorim told Sky Sports, with a trip to in-form Everton up next.

Tottenham Hotspur fans turned out in numbers to protest against chairman Daniel Levy and the club’s ownership before Sunday’s home fixture with Manchester United.

Frustration amongst supporters has increased throughout a difficult winter period and last week saw Ange Postecoglou’s injury-hit team crash out of the Carabao Cup and FA Cup in the space of 72 hours.

Fan group Change for Tottenham had already arranged a protest for the visit of United and a crowd of at least two thousand made their way down the High Road before they congregated outside the stadium where various chants for Levy to leave the club followed.

A number of banners were held up as fans gathered outside the West Stand.

The largest – aimed at majority owners ENIC – read: ‘24 years, 16 managers, 1 trophy – Time for change’.

Towards the end of Tottenham Hotspur’s 1-0 win over Manchester United, with the game still in the balance, both Brennan Johnson and Patrick Dorgu lost theirs. The two players careered into each other, leaving them falling to the floor.

It was a moment to sum up what must have been one of the worst Premier League matches ever played, relative to the cost of both squads. This isn’t to criticise either player, or any of the players, or even the managers.

It is just the peculiar context that both clubs find themselves in.

Ruben Amorim responds to questions surrounding the club’s decision not to recruit any forward players in January, after letting Marcus Rashford and Antony leave and now losing Amad Diallo to injury.

“You know the situation, we cannot bring in players without selling players. Then we try some situations and it was not possible.

“We have young kids and we have to work with the young kids. We were not expecting so many injuries in one week. These things happen. Let’s focus on the next game.”

James Maddison appeared to hit back at criticism from Roy Keane as the Tottenham Hotspur midfielder scored the winner against Manchester United on his return from injury and shut down the “outside noise” surrounding his performances.

The England international had clearly taken note of Keane’s comments on the Overlap podcast this week, in which the former United captain said Maddison’s return from injury wouldn’t make a difference to Ange Postecoglou’s struggling side.

Ruben Amorim, speaking to Sky Sports, on Manchester United’s defeat to Tottenham.

“In the end, they score, we didn’t. That was the big difference in the game. We had a lot of chances but in the end they scored one and we didn’t.

“The first step is to create situations. We have had games where we are around the box and not created situations. This game we create situations. But in this game with two teams not doing well, one goal was always going to make the difference.

“You start with one idea. We were asking about a long week for so long. And we worked our principles but day after day you lose players that change your approach to the game. I could not play the same way with Joshua [Zirkzee] as I can with Amad [Diallo].”

Ange Postecoglou, speaking to Sky Sports, as Tottenham climb to 12th with their first home win in the Premier League since November.

“Our league position is not anywhere near what it should be and today was an opportunity to start addressing that. We had a good week of training and had players back.

“We’ve had it tough the last few months, not for a lack of effort. It was important to gain some traction – we can play better and I think we will once we get the boys back up to speed.

“Our press was better. We made it hard for Man Utd to get out. We looked sharper but still lacked fluency in the final third. It was a decent effort.”

James Maddison returned to the scoresheet as he provided the winner in Tottenham’s victory over Manchester United, and made clear in his celebration that he had a message for the haters:

“There was a little bit of outside noise this week,” he tells Sky Sports. “People will have their opinions. Nobody is more critical of me than myself. The gaffer prefers when we are in our own bubble but it’s difficult with social media, you see this stuff.

“To be fair to the boys who have been fit all season, we don’t want to make excuses, but the last few months have been really difficult. The lads who have relentlessly been going every three days, it’s nice to be an injured player coming back to take the pressure off them.

“It’s about us being present now and leading like they did during the bad run.”