Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim has thrown down the gauntlet to young defender Ayden Heaven.

With the need for reliable defensive options paramount between now and the end of the season, the teenager made a superb first impression with Amorim expressing his own joy.

Lisandro Martinez, Leny Yoro and Harry Maguire are just some of the names currently sidelined for the Reds and our boss amplified the need for Heaven to step up in the Premier League as we reach a critical point in the season.

Ahead of our game against Leicester, Ruben spoke to the media about the former Gunners star and more, with his words now available for you to feast upon below…

Ruben, you’ve now lost three games out of the last 12 including a penalty shootout. Having lost quite a lot of matches in a short space of time, do you feel as though the work that you are doing and the ideas that you have are albeit somewhat slowly, starting to show themselves on the pitch?
“I feel that in the last games that we can understand better the idea of what we want to do. We are better understanding the plan for the games. We are giving the team more time to win and to draw the games. We are not suffering one goal and then losing our minds by suffering another goal. We are understanding the moments of the game and also we are understanding better the way we want to play.”

What kind of selection do you think you will be making for the rest of the season? You have obviously got a thin squad at the moment, young players on the bench and not a full bench again. Is there anybody coming back or do you think you will have to rotate from now on?
“With the different competitions, we have to rotate. We are risking some players. For example, Casemiro, he was so tired. We didn’t want to risk [Manuel] Ugarte because today [it] was a decision. In one competition, Ugarte wanted to stay here. We have Mason Mount who will return really slow, Kobbie [Mainoo] will maybe return in a few weeks, I do not know for sure. Harry Maguire, who we tried not to risk, we will see for Sunday. We need all the players and I think against Lyon it will be a different kind of game. The physicality is going to be a different game, more demanding in that aspect and we have a lot of difficult games in the Premier League.”

I think everybody would expect United to beat Leicester, based off the way Leicester have been performing. What are you expecting from them and how important is it to climb up all those different spots to get that extra money at the end of the season?
“Everything is important and we need to continue with this feeling that we can win games. It doesn’t matter the time of rest or the time after to prepare for the next game. We can do it. We showed against Arsenal that we have to be humble and we [often] forget that. Forget the table and face Leicester like we did today against Real Sociedad. We just need to win and improve our position in the table and the most important thing is to continue this feeling of winning and that we are improving as a team.”

Can I just ask about Ayden Heaven. It was such a big call for such a young player to be playing tonight, so how do you think he fared and how do you think he handled the occasion? Is he ready for more regular football this season?
“If he continues like that he is going to play. Of course he is young and he didn’t play much this season, maybe only 45 minutes for the Under-21s, then a few minutes here and now a full game. I really like his confidence. I like his pace, I think he is good in defending the box and I think he is quite complete. But he has a lot of work to do in the Premier League. We will face a different kind of player and he will be tested in a different kind of way, so we are trying to manage all of this because he is still really young.”

How good was Ayden Heaven? Video

Given his performance, it’s incredible that this was Ayden Heaven’s FIRST senior start…

You have spoken more than once about just ‘surviving’ this season by getting to the summer. After this display tonight how confident are you that you will survive?
“I know that in football, especially in our moment, we can have a really good moment and then drop really fast, so our focus is to continue and don’t be too happy or too depressed. My idea is to continue, we have to survive. That definition could change in the end but my idea is to improve the team so that we are fresh for the game against Leicester. We can’t focus a lot on changing because we will lose our minds.”

Just back on Bruno. When he plays like the way he did tonight, and leads by example and always makes himself available, playing through the pain barrier. Does it surprise you that there are ex-players out there who question his value to Manchester United? And in your opinion, how much worse off would this team be without him this season?
“I think he is so important for this team and you can see by the numbers. You can also see from these last few games. He is not always the guy that scores and it is not the most important thing, but he is always there. When you play for this team, you have to be prepared for the critics. I understand that former players have had a lot of success here and for them, the standards are so high that they see things that are [sometimes not always] black and white. In life sometimes, it is not always black and white, there is some colours and we have to understand the context. He is always there, trying his best and I am really proud to coach a player like him.”

Ruud van Nistelrooy changed to a three-at-the-back system to go up against Chelsea last week and you have mentioned physicality throughout this press conference. When you are going up against a team that has the same shape, does that need for physicality increase because you are going man-for-man in every position?
“I think that is clear because it is a lot of duels, it is man-to-man basically, especially where the ball is, it is man to man. It is going to be so physical, it is a different game and we have to use different positions and different tools to win the game. If we think we are going to play the next game the same way and like we played today, it is a mistake because it is a completely different team that we are going to face and the physicality is really important, especially in our league.”

Can you share anything about those tools?
“No I will not share anything with you guys!”

90 in 20: United v Real Sociedad Video

90 IN 20 | Enjoy a longer re-run of Thursday’s big-stakes last-16 climax against Real Sociedad…

Just on Mason Mount, do you think he will be ready for Sunday and how much are you looking forward to working with him now for a prolonged period?
“I already said, I really love Mason Mount. I see him and I know how he suffers. He does everything right. He eats right, his physical aspect is perfect. Maybe he is trying too much and maybe he is thinking too much about everything. He was European champion, he is a talent and he is a really talented player. When a player does everything like he does, he will always have the support of everybody here in the club. So we will try to manage the load and you already saw some players who have a lot of problems during one time in some moments. [I hope he can] stay fit and I believe a lot in Mason Mount and we need players like Mason Mount.”

Has he got a chance for Sunday?
“I think he is going to the bench. We will see but we need every player and if he is fit, I am going to play him. He cannot play too many minutes, just five minutes of Mason Mount is perfect.”

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Ruben Amorim has provided a positive update on Mason Mount, ahead of Manchester United’s away game at Leicester City on Sunday.

The Reds have been without Mount since mid-December, when he was withdrawn during the first half of our derby victory over Manchester City at the Etihad.

It has been a frustrating setback for the England international, as he was starting to perform well in Amorim’s new-look 3-4-3 system.

However, he returned to training earlier this week and the boss revealed he could play a part at the King Power Stadium.

“I think he is going to [be on] the bench,” said Amorim, after the conclusion of our Europa League tie with Real Sociedad on Thursday.

“We will see, but we need every player and if he is fit, I am going to play him. He cannot play too many minutes, just five minutes of Mason Mount is perfect.”

When asked about how much he’s looking forward to having our no.7 back, Ruben replied enthusiastically:

“I already said, I really love Mason Mount. I see him and I know how he suffers.

“He does everything right. He eats right, his physical aspect is perfect, he is trying too much and maybe he is thinking too much about everything. He was European champion, he is a talent and he is a really talented player.

“When a player does everything like he does, he will always have the support of everybody here in the club.

“So we will try to manage the load and you already saw some players who have a lot of problems during one time, in some moments, he can stay fit and I believe a lot in Mason Mount and we need players like Mason Mount.”

Six Reds run the gauntlet! Video

TRAINING LIVE | Watch the moment Dalot, Heaven, Mount, Obi, Onana and Ugarte all ran the gauntlet…

Earlier this week, Amorim ruled Leny Yoro out until April while Harry Maguire is also a doubt for the clash with his former club. Ayden Heaven played well as the left centre-back against La Real on his first senior start and United also have Victor Lindelof to call upon.

Manuel Ugarte was, like Lindelof, an unused substitute at Old Trafford and Amorim could utilise the pair – as well as the likes of Toby Collyer and Christian Eriksen – as he aims to keep things fresh in the East Midlands.

“With the different competitions, we have to rotate,” he added. “We are risking some players. For example, Casemiro, he was so tired.

“We didn’t want to risk Ugarte. Because today was a decision: in one competition, Ugarte wanted to stay here. We have Mason Mount who will return really slow, Kobbie [Mainoo] will maybe return in a few weeks, I don’t know for sure.

“Harry Maguire, who we tried not to risk, we will see for Sunday. We need all the players and I think against Lyon [in the Europa League quarter-finals] it will be a different kind of game. The physicality is going to be a different game, more demanding in that aspect and we have a lot of difficult games in the Premier League.”

90 in 20: United v Real Sociedad Video

90 IN 20 | Enjoy a longer re-run of Thursday’s big-stakes last-16 climax against Real Sociedad…

LEICESTER TEAM NEWS

The Foxes are close to having a fully fit squad, as Ricardo Pereira was able to return from a long-term hamstring injury during Sunday’s 1-0 defeat at Chelsea.

The Portugal full-back was introduced in the closing minutes by manager Ruud van Nistelrooy, for his first appearance since early November.

Abdul Fatawu is the only known absentee, as he has a season-ending knee injury, but the relegation battlers could afford to leave the likes of Odsonne Edouard, Oliver Skipp and Jannik Vestergaard out of the matchday squad at Stamford Bridge.

Van Nistelrooy has switched to using a back five in recent weeks, amidst a difficult run of form which has seen them lose each of their last five league games without scoring.

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