Banks praises under-fire De Gea

World Cup-winner Gordon Banks has found Gary Neville's criticism of David de Gea difficult to fathom after the Manchester United goalkeeper's mistake against Tottenham.

As one of the leading members of the goalkeeping union, Banks' defence of De Gea's weak punch in the 1-1 draw with Spurs, which led to Clint Dempsey's equaliser, comes as no surprise, but he believes the United players should be encouraging, rather than lambasting their team-mate.

Banks told Press Association Sport: "I was very upset to hear Gary Neville talking about how the players were disgusted with him (De Gea), how they were looking at him, after he hadn't punched the ball quite clear enough."

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