Jones: De Gea Is "Terrific To Work With"

Manchester United defender Phil Jones believes the secret behind David De Gea's recent performances is his work ethic, strength of character and determination to take his game to the next level, citing the Spaniard as "terrific to work with".

Wayne Rooney also described De Gea as "the best keeper in the world" after he turned in yet another eye-catching goalkeeping display against Liverpool on Sunday, and Jones has no hesitation in echoing the comments from the club's captain.

De Gea pulled off a catalogue of first-rate stops to deny Raheem Sterling and then Mario Balotelli at Old Trafford, where Louis van Gaal's men eventually ran out convincing 3-0 winners thanks to goals from Rooney, Juan Mata and Robin van Persie.

David's performance also earned the Man of the Match champagne, adding to his growing collection of gongs following his Player of the Month wins in October and November. Jones has affinity with De Gea in that they both arrived at United in the same summer three-and-a-half years ago, and he says his fellow summer signing of 2011 deserves all the recognition he is currently getting.

"He is terrific to work with," Phil explained. "Off the field he is a great lad; he is very humble and quiet. On the pitch, we are lucky to have him. After coming to the club, he had a difficult spell in his first year. But even going through that, we saw the ability he had in training and some of the saves he makes are unbelievable. We have seen what he is like and throughout the season he has been a credit to himself."

Asked if he ever doubted De Gea's quality in his difficult first season at Old Trafford, Jones continued: "Not for me! He pulls out some unbelievable saves and in terms of positioning, he is fantastic as a goalkeeper. You know he is there and nine times out of 10, he is going to make the save for you. He is in the top three in the world for me."