Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand says the defence is fully behind young goalkeeper David De Gea.

Ferdinand says there is no blame culture at Old Trafford - and Sir Alex Ferguson's young generation of stars have the class and character to bounce back.

"It's true that there is no time for players to bed in at a club like United because we are always under the spotlight. But that's no excuse - we have all been there," Ferdinand told the People. "I came here at 23 years old and I remember very well that you don't get time to sit and think about it.

"This group of young players that the manager has brought in are more than capable of producing the goods.

"They are not really under question for anything that has gone on in this qualifying campaign. We win and lose together, it's as simple as that. It's not down to any individual or particular generation of players. It's down to us all. We bounced back after 2005 and we will do it again. I always encourage the younger players and I did that with David de Gea in Basel, too.

"There's ways of speaking to people in football and sometimes you have to give confidence to the younger lads. I wouldn't even put that first goal in Basel down to David, it was collectively a bad goal to concede. But the damage wasn't done there - it was done in the course of our games at home against Benfica and Basel.

"I was here when this happened before and we recovered from it and we will do that again. Of course, it hurt then just as it's hurting now. That doesn't change. Back then we came together as a squad because there are no individuals here.

"You don't become a club like ours without having the capacity to bounce back or have the calibre of players who have the right character and mentality to come back after a disappointment. We have been here before as players and we will do what we always do and that's to come together as a squad and come out fighting."