David Moyes has insisted that he is ready to "take a few more blows" as Manchester United manager this season.

The Scotsman, who replaced Sir Alex Ferguson at the Old Trafford helm in the summer, saw his side suffer a 4-1 derby defeat to Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium in the Premier League on Sunday.

"I think a lot of people thought Manchester United [winning the title] last season, that it was probably the form of the other teams that was poor," The Guardian quotes him as saying. "I think it's important that I took the punches. I've taken the punches and I'm happy to do that.

"Not for a minute did I think this Manchester United job was going to be an easy job. There will be days like we had on Sunday and there might be more of them because we are in a period where there will be transition, there's a new manager for the players and, in turn, there will be new players."

Moyes added that he has confidence in his current group of players and is prepared to face more defeats as United boss.

"I don't think it's actually the squad, I think we've got numbers," he said. "I think maybe we've got work to do to bring in players not for the squad but to go right into the team. It's not necessarily the squad players we needed, we needed one or two who might have gone in [to the team]. That will happen.

"But going back to that transfer window, we always said it was going to be a tough one and it was going to take a little bit more time. It does mean I may have to take a few more blows, definitely.

Maybe even more than that. Maybe all season I have to take a few blows but I knew this was going to be the case because I was taking over from a great manager and it was always going to take time for me to get my own ways and change things round a little bit."

United will host Liverpool in the third round of the League Cup on Wednesday.