Eric ten Hag spoke of his alternatives after Manchester United avoided losing to Omonia Nicosia to win 3-2 in the Europa League.
And United, who suffered a deferred 6-3 defeat in the derby on Sunday against Manchester City, appeared to be on their way to a new embarrassment when the Cypriot side took the lead in the first half through Karim Ansafarard.
But Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial came off the bench to inspire a comeback triumph, and Rashford scored Martial’s two goals in the 63rd minute, even if Nicholas Panayotto made the guests sweat again in hindsight.
Ten Hag criticized his players for “really bad 10 minutes” after Neil Lennon’s team took the lead in the 34th after slackening in defence, but admitted Martial’s return to fitness was a huge boost.
“We started well, two chances, and then … (that) a mistake can’t happen, we have to take responsibility there.
“I let the crowd come alive and we have to avoid that. But then we had 10 really bad minutes and we had to learn from it.
“We were very rigid. We had to move in the back and that’s why we made the subs. They had a real impact. It makes the team stronger.”
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