Why Rashford and Evans were substituted

Marcus fired us into a first-half lead and Jonny was marshalling the Reds' backline well at the Etihad Stadium, but Evans was replaced by Willy Kambwala after 69 minutes before Rashford made way for Antony just six minutes later.

After the match, Ten Hag revealed that both Academy graduates had "fought" to be part of the match for the Reds, and couldn't manage the full game.

"He had his problems with with an injury," Erik said of Rashford. "So he fought for 70 minutes, but then I had to take him off.

"And same with Jonny Evans. Also, he fought to be in this game, but after I think 60, 65 minutes it was over and we had to take him off."

The Dutchman expanded on the topic during his post-match interview with Sky Sports: "We had two players on the pitch, they were not 100 per cent [in] Jonny Evans and Marcus Rashford and they gave everything, as the whole team gave everything.

"I don't know, I can't tell you," he responded, when pressed about the likelihood of them facing time on the sidelines.

"Finally they had to come off, but I [would have] preferred to keep them on as I think the organisation was very good. Jonny played brilliantly with Rapha [Varane] in the centre, and Rashford defended well.

"Also in the break, we know his quality and he could have scored another goal."

Ten Hag will hope to have the duo available for our clash with Everton at Old Trafford on Saturday, with other returnees on the horizon by the end of the month.

"We are working on the players returning," he said, in his post-match press conference.

"I think players will return in the coming weeks, especially after the international break.

"Hopefully Jonny Evans and Marcus Rashford are not too bad and they recover and we can use them in the next game against Everton."