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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Sport
Daniel Murphy

Tyrell Malacia assesses Luke Shaw's performance at centre-back for Manchester United

Tyrell Malacia believes Luke Shaw has the qualities to play at centre-back after his display there in the win against Nottingham Forest.

Manchester United eased back into the swing of things in the Premier League as they dominated a hapless Forest to win 3-0 on Wednesday. Such a comfortable result was far from a given, however, as Erik ten Hag was missing several key players.

Harry Maguire was only fit enough for the bench after recovering from illness while the sick bug claimed another two victims in Scott McTominay and Victor Lindelof. Diogo Dalot was also still sidelined. With Lisandro Martinez still away following his World Cup triumph, that left Raphael Varane as the only fit, senior centre-back.

Read more: Varane shows commitment to United with request ahead of return

As a result, a makeshift back-line was crafted with left-back Shaw tucking inside to join Varane in the heart of defence. Despite the unusual back-line, United kept a clean sheet and Malacia was left impressed by his fellow full-back.

"Yeah he has the qualities for it," he told MUTV when asked about Shaw playing at centre-back. "We have a lot of qualities in this team so we can adapt to it.

"I think amazing, 3-0, kept a clean sheet and an amazing night at Old Trafford. For me I was happy to be back because I didn't play there (at the World Cup) so I'm happy to play again."

Malacia was also happy to see Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial amongst the goals: "We already saw that (Rashford's good form) at the World Cup, he was important there and he keep the lines straight. It's good. It's important for the confidence, for the team, we have to score a lot of goals and at the back keep a clean sheet.

"We have to keep this line, keep winning, keep doing our thing and keep improving, that's the most important thing."

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