London, Nov 19 : Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has said that modern-day footballers need to toughen up and learn to admit their mistakes rather than complaining.

The 67-year-old also said that players have become more demanding over the years, but the adjustments that he has had to make are clearly ones that have not come easily to him.

When asked what the most difficult aspect of his job is these days, Ferguson said: "Today? It's a different player character we've got today, it's a player who's more fragile than players 25 years ago."

"They are maybe more cocooned today by the agents or the press they receive at times. They're less likely to hold their hands up and say they're at fault for things," The Times quoted Ferguson, as saying.

The comment comes a week after winger Nani complained about about how Ferguson was breaking his confidence and making him "sadder by the day" for not starting him in the big matches.

Nani had also accused Ferguson of being a very complicated guy and said that he can go from complimenting you to plain trashing you in a question of minutes in the dressing room.

Ferguson further said that he would like players to take more personal responsibility.

"If you go back 30 years, you had a player with a certain pride, a responsibility for their own performance. They were less protected so they could come in and say, `Hands up, it was my fault,' and that was good," Ferguson said.

"But today they are very protected, more fragile than ever, and that's a lot to do with the type of people who guide them, like agents," he added. (ANI)