Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim said Amad Diallo’s hat-trick helped him to have a smooth conversation with the club’s co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe. The Red Devils were staring at another disappointing loss against Southampton at Old Trafford on Thursday.

The home team was trailing by 0-1 after Manuel Ugarte scored an own goal at the stroke of halftime. However, Amad Diallo, who recently signed a five-year contract extension with Manchester United, scored a hat-trick in the last 12 minutes to give much-needed three points to his team.

“I had five minutes with him [Ratcliffe] to talk about different things,” said Amorim. “It was not a good game, but the result helped the conversation! We continue doing our job. Today it was more important to win. I know the fans want to see so much better football, but we need to win games. We managed to win and we are going to prepare for the next game.”

This is Amad’s first senior hat-trick and he was delighted to play a key role in the team’s success.

“Maybe one of the best weeks in my life,” he said. “I am very happy for this win. This team deserved to win this game so I am very happy.

“We know we have quality players in this team. We need sometimes to be more hungry in the final third. Today we showed at the end we were the best team. I am so happy for the win today because this team deserves it.”

Amorim said that the Ivory Coast forward will be needed again against Brentford on Sunday.

“He has to rest, eat good food and Sunday we need him again,” said Amorim. “He did a great job, a good moment for a young kid to score a hat trick for a club like this.

“He helped us and he is doing a very good season. I already spoke about this. You have to be careful with the young kids. Congratulations to him, enjoy tonight and he needs to appreciate these moments.”