Erik ten Hag has conceded he may have to hand Wout Weghorst a Manchester United debut earlier than anticipated as Anthony Martial is expected to miss Wednesday's trip to Crystal Palace.
The Frenchman was withdrawn from Saturday's Manchester derby at half-time and is not expected to have recovered in time for the clash against the Eagles. A victory for the Red Devils would mark a tenth successive victory and just about keep them in the race for the title.
It doesn't seem as if handing loan signing Weghorst a start against Palace was the original plan, but Ten Hag refused to rule out the Netherlands international appearing in some capacity on Wednesday night. Speaking in the aftermath of the City win, he said: "I have to think about that [Weghorst making debut against Palace].
"First, settle down after this game, make the right conclusions and then we will make a clear plan for Palace."
They could have to tackle Patrick Vieira's without Martial, with Ten Hag telling reporters why he hooked the forward at half-time against City. "I hoped to avoid that he was getting injured, but he was complaining," the Dutchman explained.
"That's why he also didn't train in the week and was a question mark [for the derby]. We decided - and he decided as well - to start. He begged to start.
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"I knew the start would be so important in this game, and he is really good at pressing, and he is a really big element in our pressing. But I needed to re-evaluate at half-time.
"As you saw, he was not capable to go 100 per cent, and this is what you need. And also to avoid him getting injured, so we took him off, but it also had a negative impact on our game after half-time."
United are in splendid form at the moment, but Ten Hag has explained how he still hasn't nailed down exactly how he plans to tackle a struggling Palace side he claims to know so well.
"Of course, I know a lot about Palace - we faced them also in pre-season and know how their team is - but the total plan I don't have now. I didn't construct it until now.
"So from this point on, we can construct the plan and prepare the team in the right way."
A win for United would put them six points behind league leaders Arsenal having played a game more. Up next after Palace just so happens to be the Gunners, another win at the Emirates would blow the title race wide open.
