Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris has praised his France teammate Paul Pogba for using his "warrior" mentality to overcome recent criticism of his form.
Pogba, who completed a world-record £89.5million transfer to Manchester United from Juventus this summer, was told by Les Bleus coach Didier Deschamps that he "must do better" after the 23-year-old failed to impress in an unfamiliar defensive midfield role in the nation's 4-1 win World Cup qualifying win over Bulgaria on Friday.
Pogba reacted by putting in a man-of-the-match performance in France's subsequent game against the Netherlands on Monday and topped off his showing with the only goal in Amsterdam.
Lloris has praised the way Pogba handled criticism in his homeland over the weekend, and believes the United midfielder will continue improving on his way to becoming the best player in the world.
"He's a warrior in his mind," Lloris told ESPN. "That's the most important thing. Of course he's very talented but in football talent is not enough, and in his mind he's very strong, and very ambitious, so he's going to improve step by step and he will arrive at the level that he wants.
"Especially after his transfer record, there is a lot of expectation around him. But I think today he showed the perfect response. He helped the team to get the three points, he was decisive today and maybe he will give us confidence for the next few games."
Despite utilising Pogba next to Blaise Matuidi in a deeper midfield role in both of France's World Cup qualifiers over the past seven days, Deschamps admitted the position is not the 23-year-old's best - but insisted the Red Devils star has the ability to make it his own.
"He can and must do better," Deschamps said after the 4-1 win over Bulgaria.
"When he has a defensive role like that, that's not the best for him.
"This is more a construction part, protection as compared to the central hinge. He has everything to do it. He did some good things, some others less good.".
