Ruben Amorim thinks Manchester United's first team must accept responsibility for the financial issues facing the club.

United are enduring a miserable season, sitting 15th in the Premier League table, as close to the relegation zone as they are to the top seven (13 points).

They have only won four of 15 league games since Amorim took charge in November, drawing three and losing eight. 

United have also attracted criticism in recent days after the Jim Ratcliffe regime announced a "transformation plan" for the club, featuring another round of redundancies that will see up to 200 staff members lose their jobs.

The Red Devils recorded a net loss of £113million in their latest set of accounts and have lost over £300m in the last three years.

Those figures have also led to talk of academy products Kobbie Mainoo and Alejandro Garnacho being sold to stave off a possible breach of the Premier League's Profit and Sustainability rules.

Speaking ahead of Wednesday's home game against Ipswich Town, Amorim said the first team – as the "engine of the club" – are primarily responsible for those issues.

"We have to address all the problems in the club, but one important piece of this moment is to understand how we get to this situation," Amorim said.

"It has a lot to do with the lack of success of the football team because we are the engine of any football club."

Amorim appreciates United's latest round of cost-cutting measures will do nothing to lift the feeling of gloom engulfing Old Trafford. 

"We know this year was really hard for everybody," Amorim continued. "As a club, we did a lot of changes. 

"When you are doing the changes, if you have a football team who are playing well and winning games, it is easier for the fans and everyone to feel that. 

"But in this moment, we are in a difficult period inside the club and inside the pitch. We have to fight against this feeling.

"We have to do our job, and we try our best to help the team to perform better."