Rio Ferdinand hails "shining light" Daniel James

Former Manchester United captain Rio Ferdinand has lavished praise on Daniel James, with the Wales international continuing to impress in the early stages of his Red Devils career.

The 21-year-old - a summer arrival from Swansea City - has scored three Premier League goals in four appearances for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side at the start of the 2019-20 campaign.

James struck a brilliant opener away to Southampton on Saturday afternoon, before Jannik Vestergaard hit back as the points were shared at St Mary's.

Ferdinand has said that the attacker "was the shining light" for United on Saturday as Solskjaer's team dropped more points in the league.

"This kid today (Saturday), he was the shining light in this team. He's the guy they went to for any kind of inspiration. Any type of threat on goal came through this guy," Ferdinand told BT Sport.

"Yes he makes mistakes but he's young, that's going to happen. You would be naive and silly to think that won't. What I like about him is he wants the ball. If he loses it, he jumps up, dusts himself down and wants it again. That's the mentality of top players, they don't shirk responsibility, they welcome it."

United, who have taken five points from their four league matches this season, will return to action with a home game against Leicester City after the international break.