Ruben Amorim told his players to 'KILL' themselves to save his job - as Man United coach issues fresh challenge to stars after confidence-boosting win over Sunderland

Ruben Amorim told his players to prove they are behind him after victory over Sunderland at Old Trafford eased some of the pressure on the embattled Manchester United boss.

Goals from Mason Mount and Benjamin Sesko earned United a 2-0 win and gave Amorim some much-needed breathing space going into the international break.

Afterwards, Mount insisted that the players are ‘100 per cent’ behind their head coach, but Amorim wants them to show it by giving absolutely everything for him on the pitch.

‘We need to show with actions,’ he said. ‘I know they want to do their best, and I know they don’t want to change the coach all the time.

‘But like I said during this week, to be with the manager is “I will kill myself to go in every transition”.

‘Sometimes when we look at our team, I know for sure that in the end they know we can do better. We need to show that on the pitch, not just at home but also away.’ 

Although United celebrated a third win in a row at Old Trafford, the last two were followed by demoralising defeats at Manchester City and Brentford. The next game after the international break is away to Liverpool at Anfield, and Amorim has yet to win back-to-back league games in charge.

‘There is no momentum with our team, with the break or without the break,’ he admitted. ‘We know what happens when we win one game. The frustration is not to see the same team at home and away.

‘It's frustrating to not have this kind of performance again. We need to do this kind of performance away as well. It's our responsibility to play like this.’

Amorim gave a debut to new goalkeeper Senne Lammens who kept a clean sheet. However, he warned the Belgian that life at United won’t always be so easy.

‘It’s just one game and he needs to work and be prepared that in our club things are really hard,’ said Amorim. ‘But he did well and he was comfortable during the game. That's a really good sign.

‘The important thing is that the teammates helped Lammens a lot to have a very good performance because everyone was focused and there weren’t a lot of mistakes.’

Mount insisted that United need to build on the victory as they look to overcome a difficult start to the season. ‘We thought after Chelsea it would be the start of something, and then we go to Brentford and have a disappointing result,’ he said.

‘It starts today and we'll be working hard over the break. We want to get back-to-back wins, then three in a row and push on for the top four.

‘We're 100 per cent behind the gaffer. We've had some results that hurt us – the team, the staff and the fans – but that was important today.’

Sesko scored for the second game in a row with his first goal at Old Trafford. United’s £73.7million signing said: ‘The atmosphere after it was unbelievable. It's something I've been dreaming about, jumping high in the stadium like that. My dream came true.’