Anthony Martial did not start for Manchester United against Brentford as he is still not "game-fit", according to manager Erik ten Hag.
Martial made his first United appearance in 78 days as a second-half substitute in the 2-0 defeat at Newcastle on Sunday and he was widely expected to replace Wout Weghorst up front against Brentford.
Weghorst was dropped after 19 successive starts but Ten Hag replaced him with Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford moved to the centre forward role. Rashford scored the only goal of the game against Brentford and Martial emerged in the 70th minute.
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Martial, 27, has only started nine times in a season he has sustained five separate injuries and appeared in 16 of United's 48 fixtures. The Frenchman has not completed 90 minutes for United since January 2021.
"No, otherwise he was an option but I don't think in this moment he is game fit enough to have a start," Ten Hag replied when asked why Martial was on the bench. "And there is also prevention.
"Obviously, when you see Anthony Martial's record over the last years, you have to be really careful to plan it. So I don't want to take that risk because I know when he is on the pitch he has a great impact on our performance."
Ten Hag is optimistic Martial will be able to line up alongside Rashford, who struck his 28th club goal of the season to send United back into the top four against Brentford.
Sancho started on the left, where Rashford has played for the majority of this term, and Ten Hag is looking forward to the three 20-something attackers combining more frequently in the coming weeks.
"I think also you can take in that discussion, that debate, Jadon Sancho," Ten Hag added. "But I'm sure when they are three or four on the pitch we have a very good frontline.
"A lot of creativity, a lot of intelligence, a lot of pace, a lot of togetherness, I think then we create more, we will have more of a threat. And the balance of that frontline will be good.
"But obviously you have to play more together. So happy it looks like he (Martial)'s back and hopefully he stays fit until the end of the season and we can play him.
"But we have seen with others we have results, we proved that, that we are there and Anthony Martial is often not available but still we are there."
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