A Carabao Cup fourth-round fixture at home to Championship opposition, just three days after the World Cup final, felt like a prime opportunity for Zidane Iqbal to finally make his full Manchester United debut.
The Iraq international, who has been on United's books since the age of nine, is considered to be one of the most exciting prospects emerging from the club's state-of-the-art academy system. He is a well-respected character at Old Trafford and he has most certainly left his calling card when opportunities have been presented to him under Erik ten Hag.
Those opportunities under the Dutchman, however, have all comes in friendlies. Iqbal featured in five of United's six pre-season friendlies during the summer and started each of the two fixtures they recently played in Spain as part of their warm-weather training camp during the World Cup break.
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But despite appearing in seven of the eight official friendlies that United have played since Ten Hag took charge in the summer, Iqbal has not earned a single minute worth of competitive football at first-team level this season. Admittedly, his prospects have not been helped by the importance and form of Christian Eriksen, Bruno Fernandes and Casemiro in Ten Hag's first choice midfield, but he has not had so much as a sniff to prove himself when the result actually matters.
Wednesday night's visit of Burnley was considered the ideal opportunity for Iqbal to make his bow from the start. His only previous experience of playing for the first-team in a competitive fixture was against BSC Young Boys in the Champions League last year, when he appeared as a very late substitute.
However, Ten Hag, much to everyone's surprise, fielded a much stronger team than was anticipated, handing starts to the likes of Marcus Rashford, Casemiro, Eriksen and Fernandes, all of whom had been on World Cup duty. Casemiro, Fernandes and Rashford only returned to training at the start of this week after helping their respective countries reach the quarter-final stage in Qatar.
Although Casemiro was deployed at centre-back, such was United's shortage of suitable partners for Victor Lindelof, Eriksen and Fernandes' presence in midfield meant that Scott McTominay was always likely to join them and offer defensive nous. Iqbal, though, was not named among the substitutes.
He was, in the eyes of many, United's best player over the course of the two friendlies against Cadiz and Real Betis in Spain earlier this month, meaning it was a surprise when his name was missing from the teamsheet completely. Having been up against Championship opposition, and at home, Iqbal must now be wondering when his time will come, especially when he has left a lasting impression in every friendly he has played in under Ten Hag.
Although Iqbal is only 19 and has time on his side, United must look into the possibility of finding a suitable loan move for him in next month's transfer window. The academy graduate has now passed the point where he should be content with playing Premier League 2 football for the Under-21s and needs to test himself at first-team level.
A move to a Championship club strikes as being the ideal scenario to help Iqbal continue his progression and become accustomed to playing competitive football against senior figures. United currently have fellow midfielder Hannibal Mejbri out on loan in the Championship and he is thriving in the colours of Birmingham City.
The Championship is often a breeding ground and stepping stone for players who have ambitions of becoming regular fixtures in the Premier League. Iqbal, of course, will have aspirations of becoming a regular starter at Old Trafford in years to come, but remains several hurdles away from that becoming a reality.
A loan move in January, however, would surely enhance his chances of that dream arriving a little sooner. As he showed during the pre-season tour of Thailand and Australia in the summer, particularly in the 4-1 win over Melbourne Victory, he has the ability to dominate proceedings in midfield, add some magic and be an imposing and creative figure.
You could argue that he has still not found his best role in midfield, such is his ability to do a little bit of everything. A loan exit for Iqbal should be in United's best interests next month, purely to allow him to take the next step in his development and gain some valuable experience.
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