Manchester United players Victor Lindelof and Scott McTominay have both missed out on featuring against Nottingham Forest due to illness.
Both started and played the full 90 minutes during the midweek Carabao Cup fourth round tie against Burnley, with McTominay even assisting Marcus Rashford's second goal of the night. Harry Maguire also missed that match through illness but has recovered sufficiently for a place on the substitute's bench.
With two natural central defenders and another defensive-minded player in McTominay, who has previously played at centre-back on occasion for the club and internationally for Scotland, affected, manager Erik ten Hag has been forced to find a creative replacement. Luke Shaw moves across from left-back to partner Raphael Varane, who featured for France in the World Cup final just nine days ago, at the heart of the Man United defence.
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"Martinez is clear [fit] after winning the World Cup, but Harry Maguire, Victor Lindelof and Scott McTominay, they all were ill. Luckily, Harry Maguire recovered from it, but he's not ready to start; he can't play 90 minutes," Ten Hag told MUTV, relayed by our colleagues at the Manchester Evening News.
"That's why he's on the bench, and so we have to sort something out, so that's what we did. We have high ambitions, and he [Varane] is an important player and, not only that, a leader, and he took the responsibility of being ready to play. Last week, he [Shaw] offered himself in this position [centre-back], and Casemiro did the same [against Burnley]."
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