Manchester United coach Ruben Amorim has explained why he played defender Harry Maguire as a striker in their 1-0 loss against Nottingham Forest on Tuesday.

Maguire came on from the bench in the 88th minute and was used as makeshift forward.

He had a big scoring chance, but his effort was cleared off the line by Murillo just seconds before the fulltime.

Speaking after the match, Amorim explained Maguire’s role, saying:

“In the end of the game, when the opponent is protecting the box, they are comfortable.

“We can reach the final third but we have to put the ball into the box, as it is hard to make the combinations. Harry Maguire, when he is attacking set pieces, is maybe the best player in the team.

“Inside the box, you are not a defender, you are a striker. Put one man who is really good in there to score the goal.”

United created twenty-three chances at goal but failed to convert any of the opportunities.

Talking about these struggles in front of goal, Amorim continued: “That is clear. We created some chances but we could create more with the possession we had.

“We reached the final third a lot of times but we need to be better. It is important to score goals and we have a lack of goals.

“We put Forest in the place they wanted to be. They have fast players in transitions, we pushed forward but in the final third, we were not good enough.”

Anthony Elanga, a former Manchester United player, scored the only goal of the match in the first-half following a quick counter attack.