Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has hailed the importance of Marouane Fellaini to his team following their 4-0 victory over Crystal Palace this afternoon.

The Belgian was on the scoresheet twice at Old Trafford as his side moved top of the Premier League table with their sixth win from seven league games.

Fellaini moved to United from Everton in 2013 and has been a divisive figure among the club's fans, but received a warm round of applause from the home support as he left the pitch at full time.

"I think only a strong character would resist the difficulties here," Mourinho told reporters afterwards. "Because he had some difficult times where people didn't recognise his qualities where probably other managers didn't like so much the qualities that he has, so you have to be a strong character.

"He's a fighter, a guy with lots of pride, I'm really pleased I helped him to reach this and to change the perception the fans have now, I'm really happy for him.

"We are all managers, we are all different, sometimes we like players others don't like, sometimes we don't like players others like, some players perform better with some of us than with others. And I have examples of players that didn't perform well with me and then they performed well with other managers.

"Marouane is just the fact I think he has important qualities and I try to use these qualities depending of the situation, depending of the team's needs. He played with me as defensive midfield player, as second striker, he played with me like today in one of the double midfield players, adapted to the needs of the team.

"He's a team player, a great character, we have a good relation and things are going really between us."

Fellaini's tally of three league goals so far this season is already more than in the previous two seasons combined.