Phil Jones has acknowledged that an improvement is required ahead of next weekend's Premier League opener against Leicester City after Manchester United suffered a 1-0 defeat at Bayern Munich.

The Red Devils' turbulent pre-season campaign ended on a low as they came unstuck to a second-half goal from Javi Martinez in Bavaria on Sunday night.

United will head into the new season on the back of three draws, two defeats and just one win - against Real Madrid in midweek - while boss Jose Mourinho is also upset by a lack of signings.

Despite all the doom and gloom, on a personal level Jones is happy to have blown away the cobwebs after returning to action at the Allianz Arena, and the Englishman is also hopeful that a couple of new players could yet arrive before Thursday's transfer deadline.

"I thought we played well in patches but we're disappointed with the defeat," The Express quotes him as saying. "I've not trained for between 10 days and two weeks but it's all about getting fit and sharp ready for Friday.

"The lads look fresh and are enjoying themselves. I need to to improve my sharpness a little bit. The more I train and the more minutes I get the fitter I will get.

"We have brought in a couple of new faces and maybe we'll get a couple more. We need to improve and we need to challenge this season."

Jones was praised by Mourinho earlier this week for cutting short his post-World Cup holiday to link up with his United teammates.