Sir Alex Ferguson has hailed the character of goalkeeper David De Gea, who he believes has shown great improvement in recent months.

The 21-year-old Spaniard had come in for criticism earlier in the season following a string of shaky performances.

One of De Gea's most high-profile errors came in United's shock 3-2 defeat to Blackburn Rovers over the Christmas period, but Ferguson believes the stopper has progressed greatly ahead of the reverse fixture at Ewood Park on Monday.

"He has made fantastic improvement, the boy," said Ferguson.

"He knew it was a challenge and he stood up as a man. He got a grip of it and didn't let it get to him.

"The other night against Fulham, once again, he made two or three terrific punches, clearances in the second half of the game when they started to hurl the ball into the box."

De Gea joined the Red Devils from Atletico Madrid for £17.8m in the summer.