As Manchester United went into extra-time against a Championship side at Old Trafford their manager looked to his bench and saw one attacking option, a 33-year-old with three appearances to his name all season.
Somewhere, watching on TV, were Jesse Lingard and Edinson Cavani. Players allowed to miss this game but whose presence at this stage could have been game-changing.
The Stretford End’s ‘Standards’ banner was absent on Friday but would rarely have felt more appropriate. Sir Alex Ferguson glared on under a flat cap in the directors’ box and it’s hard to imagine such a blatant show of player power being granted in his days.
