Every word: Part one of Ruben's press conference

The Reds welcome Newcastle United to Old Trafford for a 20:00 GMT kick-off on Boxing Day, but will do so without Bruno Fernandes, Kobbie Mainoo, Matthijs de Ligt and Harry Maguire, along with Africa Cup of Nations trio Bryan Mbeumo, Amad and Noussair Mazraoui.

Amorim was asked how he intends cope without the likes of our captain, Fernandes, from both playing and leadership perspectives. He also answered questions on the debuts of Shea Lacey and Jack Fletcher, and much more.

Keep scrolling to read, and watch, everything he had to say...

Just team-news-wise. First of all, how’s Bruno? Is he and Kobbie [Mainoo] maybe available?
“No, not for this game. They are recovering. I don't think that is going to take a lot of time. I think Kobbie is going to return faster than Bruno. But for this game, they are out."

Do you know how long Bruno’s going to be out for?
“No, I don't want to say. I have an idea, of course, but let's see.”

And just on Matthijs [de Ligt] and Harry [Maguire] as well, how are they looking?
“We are still working with them. They are not available for this one. Let's see for the next one."

You ended up on Sunday playing Lisandro Martinez as a midfield player. You previously said that would only happen in an emergency, which it presumably was. What would you do for these block of games, then, if Bruno's not going to be available for a little while?
“We have other players. We need maybe [to] try to see different ways of playing. I think Jack Fletcher did a very good job and that's why when we have this opportunity, we need to give space to guys like Jack and the other ones. So, we'll find solutions to play.”

Are you confident? Because this was a block of fixtures where a lot of people looked at your team and said, ‘Manchester United can kind of really kick on’, and it's not been like that. You played well at Villa but didn’t win, then there was the Everton and West Ham games. You've got another block of games now where people would have expected you to do well but now you’ve lost quite a few players.
“I'm confident that we can win any game. Of course, we have some problems, but I believe in the team. Even without many players in this moment, I believe in the team, and I believe we can win any game. Of course, it's more difficult, but again, I trust in my players and if we are really focused on the game, we can win.”

And just in terms of the young players, in terms of Jack [Fletcher] and Shea [Lacey], they obviously had a few days now for their debuts to both sink in. So how have they been the last few days and how do they sit now in your thinking going forward?
“Normal, they are normal. They are good kids. The behaviour that they have showed during these weeks is really good. But I don't have that feeling that they were a little bit different because, ‘I played for Manchester United’. No, they are really focused and they are preparing the game, and they believe that they can play. That is a good feeling. So, nothing different that I saw in the last few weeks."

And just as far as Bruno’s concerned, given the amount of creativity that he brings this team and the Premier League, he's created more chances than any other player in the Premier League so far this season as well. How do you replace that? How do you copy that? Or can you?

“I think it's impossible to replace Bruno, but I say that in this morning to the team. I think we need to take the good thing, if there is a good thing on that a lot of people need to step up. And if you see, it's not just the creation, but every set piece, he’s the guy that is organising sometimes the team. And that is a good opportunity for everyone to step up and to understand that we cannot rely on one player for everything. And sometimes we rely on Bruno in the organisation, in the creation. We lost Bruno on set pieces. We lost Bryan [Mbeumo] and Amad on set pieces. So, this is massive for the team, but it's an opportunity for other players to step up and to show the leadership that we need in the team."

You just touched on it there about the leadership. Bruno has been so crucial to all of that on the pitch. So, you spoke about what you lose ability-wise, what would you lose on the pitch?

“Everything. Everything. Because, again, he understands every position on the field. He pays attention to every detail. Every set piece, when you have a substitution, he’s always the guy that is telling the other guys where they should be. But that is a very good opportunity for guys like Licha [Martinez], Luke Shaw, all these guys. We need to step up to have more leaders in the group because this can happen to Bruno. It's not usual, but this can happen. So, it's a big opportunity for the other guys.”