De Gea: Spain fans want Man United keeper dropped for Kepa

In an AS.com survey asking readers to choose Spain's starting goalkeeper, half of those who took part plumped for Kepa Arrizabalaga.

The Spain fans want Kepa Arrizabalaga to take over in goal from David de Gea in the wake of the Manchester United man's recent errors, according to the results of an AS.com poll.

Just under 50% go for Kepa over De Gea against Iran

De Gea, 27, was badly at fault for Portugal's second goal in Spain's 3-3 World Cup draw with the European champions on Friday, letting a Cristiano Ronaldo shot slip through his fingers and into the net.

Earlier this month, he had also gifted Switzerland a late equaliser in a Russia 2018 warm-up friendly.

39,917 AS.com readers took part in a survey that asked the question, "Which keeper would you pick to start for Spain?", with 49.8% opting to replace De Gea with Kepa in La Roja's second group-stage match against Iran on Wednesday.

De Gea earned 38.4% of the votes cast, with veteran custodian Pepe Reina coming third with 11.8%.

De Gea backed by Hierro and Ramos

Despite the former Atlético Madrid keeper's costly mistakes leading his status as Spain's number one to be called into question, he has received the full backing of interim head coach Fernando Hierro and national captain Sergio Ramos.

"He's one of us; we have no doubts about him," said Hierro after the Portugal game in Sochi. "It's not about never failing, it's about never giving up," wrote Ramos on Twitter, meawhile. "Always on my team."