Manchester United legend Peter Schmeichel has praised Rasmus Hojlund and has criticised his teammates for not creating enough opportunities for him.

The Danish striker has suffered a difficult start to his United career for differing reasons. Hojlund had to wait for his debut for the club following his £72m move because of an injury suffered in Atalanta’s pre-season.

United’s centre forward featured for the first time in the defeat at Arsenal last month and started his first game for the Reds after the international break against Brighton and Hove Albion. So far, the 20-year-old has scored just once for his new team, in the Champions League defeat by Bayern Munich.

While Hojlund attempted to impose himself on Saturday, he was unable to score the elusive first Old Trafford goal against Crystal Palace. But, assessing his performance on Premier League Goal Rush, Schmeichel offered some words of encouragement for his fellow countryman.

He explained: “You know what? I would claim 90 per cent of what was good from Manchester United today [Saturday] came from something he was involved in.

“The problem is, the team has not had a proper No.9 for a long, long, long time so it will also take the team some time to get used to playing with a No.9. He is making all the right runs, he is keeping his patience which I think is [good considering] he is only 20 years of age but they are not playing him right. He should be getting better service, I will put it like that.”