Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag took no chances in midweek when he selected a strong side for the team’s Carabao Cup tie with Burnley.
He sensibly made use of the returning World Cup stars, which would not have been the case had Brazil, Portugal or England made the final.
United won the game 2-0, setting up a quarter-final with Charlton Athletic.
The strong team selection did mean there was no place for to hand out debuts, although Ten Hag did say he strongly considered giving defender Rhys Bennett a chance.
Well, despite not being ready to throw the youngsters in, Ten Hag gave them a show of faith by including a selected few in his training session yesterday.
Zidane Iqbal, 19, Rhys Bennett, 18, and Kobbie Mainoo, 17, all featured.
Mainoo has already made the bench for the first team, and while he is waiting on his debut, he is clearly a player Erik ten Hag rates highly.
The England youth international is being fast-tracked by Erik ten Hag, with his continual involvement in first team sessions very encouraging to see.
There is a small chance that United’s relatively kind Carabao Cup quarter-final draw with Charlton provides a chance for Zidane Iqbal or Mainoo to be involved.
Ten Hag will likely go strong again, but as the fixture list begins to pile up in early January, with the FA Cup kicking off too, there is a chance that an opportunity could open up for one or two of United’s top talents, at least to make the squad.
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