Manchester United defender Harry Maguire admit he and partner Lisandro Martinez want to excel in defensive situations.

The Red Devils had to work hard for a recent 1-0 win over West Ham United in the Premier League.

Maguire played the full 90 minutes in the game, with the Hammers showing plenty of attacking intent late in the clash and nearly grabbing an equalizer.

"As a centre-back, and a centre-back who likes to defend the box, it's really – the last 20 minutes [against West Ham] - are really enjoyable," Maguire told United Review.

"Although they are really tense, it's something that me and Licha [Martinez] were speaking about, they're the moments you want to play for.

"You want to defend, you want to hold on to that clean sheet, do everything you can to keep the ball out of the back of the net and I think we did it really well in the last 20 minutes. Obviously, we want to play a little bit better and keep the ball better than we did in the last 20-25 minutes.

"I felt like we had good control of the game for the first 70 minutes and we lost it a little bit in the last 20. So it's something that we'll work on, that we won't need to defend that many corners or free-kicks, but yes, for sure, as a centre-back that's what you enjoy, that's what you want to do.

"You want to defend and come out and keep a clean sheet and win 1-0. 1-0s are always the best for a centre-back."