Senne Lammens names Man Utd's unsung hero in training under Michael Carrick

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Senne Lammens has hailed Tom Heaton for playing a key role in helping him to settle so quickly at Manchester United . Lammens has proven to be an inspired signing for United, having brought a calmness to defence in the wake of Andre Onana , and the Belgian says Heaton has been a factor in his performances.

United signed Lammens from Royal Antwerp for £18.2million on transfer deadline day in September. He was the least high profile of the signings, with Benjamin Sesko, Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha taking the limelight up front.

But the 23-year-old goalkeeper has made a real difference since taking over the No.1 role from Onana, who was loaned out to Trabzonspor following some shaky performances. Lammens has kept five clean sheets in the Premier League and become an assured presence in between the posts during the revival under Michael Carrick's management.

Lammens is part of a goalkeeping group at United which also contains second-choice Altay Bayindir and veteran third-choice Heaton. The 39-year-old came through the United academy and re-joined the club in 2021 for the final stage of his career.

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He has taken up a mentor role in the dressing room and Lammens believes his guidance has been invaluable. "He's been really helpful," he told ex-goalkeeper Ben Foster on the Fozcast . "He helped me a lot the first couple of weeks especially to get me like eased in.

"It's always nice to have someone who knows so much about the Premier League and this club and everything in between, to help me out when I need to but also to help me to relax and joke around sometimes. Coming from him, it's a good feeling."

Foster shared his hugely positive opinion of Heaton as a goalkeeper before Lammens reiterated his point about his personality. "Still today, at almost 40 years old, I can still see him in training, so I can only imagine in his prime how good he was," he said.

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"For a Belgian guy, he didn't really have the recognition probably in the world . Especially, the most important thing, every team-mate you speak to about - or even his team-mates now in training - the way they talk about him, his qualities on the pitch, but even more so his qualities off the pitch, as the guy he is.

"Probably why our friendship has grown so much is because we're a bit similar as well in every aspect - I can see a lot of myself in him. And it's the same the other way around, he tells me a lot: 'you're so much like me when I was younger'.

"He knows what I'm thinking in every situation almost, so that's also where he helps me, maybe in more difficult situations, or when I'm doing really well, in those situations, trying to help me not get too outside of my head."

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