Louis van Gaal is adamant he wants to see out his contract at Manchester United as he insisted he will not resign as manager at Old Trafford.
"I have signed a three-year contract and I have said in all my press conferences that it's a process, not one game," Van Gaal told reporters. "And I want to continue until the end. If I am not willing to do that, I don't think I would have started here one-and-a-half years ago."
Van Gaal, whose deal runs until 2017, has insisted that he never offered to quit after reports he said he was willing to go after Saturday's defeat to Southampton. The Dutchman criticised those reports as "awful and horrible" during Thursday's news conference.
But the 64-year-old, who admitted on Thursday that he could be sacked if his side lose to Derby in Friday's FA Cup tie, sees himself at Old Trafford until the end of next season.
United have only taken 10 points from their last 10 league games and have won just three of their last 14 matches in all competitions, but Van Gaal is adamant he does not need to mount a defence of his record.
"When I say things to defend myself then it's not good," he said. "Because why do I have to defend myself?
"When you see the circumstances -- we have eight injuries, you cannot say that is the manager's fault because five or six are contact injuries, and it's also the same position, full-back.
"We have been first in the Premier League -- you may remember that -- but that was one-and-a-half months ago and the injuries are now and that is also a problem. If I could prevent injuries then maybe I'm guilty and I have to stand down but not when I don't have that feeling and we were No. 1 in the Premier League."
Executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward has proved a staunch ally in troubled times and Van Gaal is determined not to let him down.
"Of course I am very happy with the support of Woodward and [United owners] the Glazers, also gives you more pressure because the fans believe in me, or maybe had believed in me," he said. "The pressure is greater because they expect you to fulfil your expectations of you.
"Of course we can fulfil those expectations, but I am more dependent on belief than facts. The facts are that we are not in the top four, the gap is bigger, so the belief is not so easy to believe."