He said: "I'm under no illusion that if you're manager of Newcastle, then the criticism flows. Sometimes you think it's a bit unjust, but it is part and parcel of what we deal with these days with social media the way it is and every game televised.

"You come under huge scrutiny. In the past, you used to discuss it in the pub. 'What did he pick him for?' and 'Why's he picked him?'. Now everybody's is a manager.

"I understand that, it's the beauty of it. It is what it is, so let's just get on with it. I can't stop it, I can't halt it until the next game, and hopefully we can produce a performance that can get us a result and we'll go on from there."

That next opportunity comes at Wolves on Sunday as Bruce's men – for whom keeper Karl Darlow is rated at only 50-50 after a painful collision with United striker Marcus Rashford – attempt to prove that they are getting somewhere this season.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side arrived in the north-east on the back of a 6-1 drubbing by Tottenham at Old Trafford, but their former skipper was always wary of a backlash.

Bruce said: "All of a sudden because Manchester United got turned over at home by Tottenham, then we're supposed to turn over Manchester United three or four.

"Look, I always knew that Manchester United coming, especially after being beaten so badly, there would be a reaction. Make no bones about it, they will be in the top four, in my opinion.

"We were a bit too open, I grant you that, but we're in that little bit of a change at the moment and we were caught. But we were 1-1 with four minutes to play."