Manchester United centre-back Harry Maguire has said that he will have to "have a chat" with the Red Devils if he continues to only play "once every month".
The 30-year-old is down the pecking order in terms of the spots in the middle of the Man United defence, with Lisandro Martinez, Raphael Varane and Victor Lindelof all ahead of him when it comes to the thoughts of head coach Erik ten Hag.
Martinez is currently on the sidelines following a second foot operation this year, while Varane missed out against Brentford last weekend due to injury, which allowed Maguire to make his first start of the 2023-24 Premier League campaign.
Should Varane prove his fitness over the international break, Maguire could find himself back on the bench against Sheffield United after the international break.
The defender continues to be selected for England, though, and he will be hoping to feature in both of the national team's upcoming games with Australia and Italy.
Maguire was heavily linked with a move to West Ham United over the summer, but a switch to the Hammers failed to materialise.
The former Sheffield United youngster has insisted that he still has full belief in his abilities, and he has suggested that a move away from Old Trafford will occur if he is unable to regain his starting role.
"Yeah, of course. I mean, I'm not going to sit here all my life and play once every month and if it carries on then I'm sure myself and the club will sit down and have a chat about things," he told reporters during a press conference with England.
"But, honestly, at the moment I'm fully focused on two games for England, two big games. Then I'm fully focused on fighting and trying to get back my place at Manchester United and helping the team climb up the league to where we should be.
"I have belief in my ability and what I have done in my career as every player should. Every player who is on the bench should believe they should be starting, otherwise they wouldn't be playing at a high level. I am no different.
"Listen, it's been tough. I want to play games. I want to feel important to the club and I want to feel important to the rest of the team. At the moment I haven't been playing anywhere near as much as I'd like. It's the bottom line of it.
"I've just got to make sure I am ready to take the opportunities when they come along. It's not my decision whether I start the next game or not. I'm unsure on that. I'm sure in a couple of weeks I'll go back and find out.
"Listen, if you look back on my last 15 to 20 starts for club and country, I would be happy to sit here and say 'I'm really happy with my performances'.
"My record under this manager speaks for itself. I haven't started as many games as I'd like, but my win percentage when I've played is ridiculously high.
"And of course, there's times when I can do more and times when I can improve and help the team, but, yeah, I'm just wanting to help the team. I'm wanting to help the team get out of this position that we're in at the moment and hopefully we can do that in the coming weeks."
Maguire lost his position in Ten Hag's first XI due to some disappointing performances in the early stages of last season, and he has only featured in three of his side's opening eight games of the current Premier League campaign. body check tags ::
