Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has admitted Victor Lindelof's confidence has taken a hit after his part in the 2-1 defeat at Huddersfield.
The £31 million summer signing from Benfica was at fault for Huddersfield's second goal in his first meaningful Premier League appearance on Saturday.
Mourinho kept faith with the 23-year-old for the 2-0 Carabao Cup win over Swansea on Tuesday night, but revealed he was forced into a tactical change to help the Sweden international and youngster Axel Tuanzebe.
He told MUTV: "I tried to give Axel good protection. I decided to play with three because Victor was not coming with his confidence levels very, very high, so I decided to play both with the experience of [Chris] Smalling and we were OK. It was good for the players to get confidence."
Victory at the Liberty Stadium put defending champions United into the hat for the Carabao Cup quarterfinal draw on Thursday.
But despite prioritising the Premier League and the Champions League this season, Mourinho insists he will not throw away the chance to win the competition again.
"We are trying to defend our cup to the maximum we can and now we go to the quarterfinals," he said. "That's it and we are happy."
Tuanzebe was handed his first start of the campaign against Swansea after making his first-team debut last season.
The 19-year-old has been sidelined with a back injury but impressed against Paul Clement's side, starting the move that led to Jesse Lingard's second goal of the night.
He told MUTV: "I've been waiting for an opportunity to play. I've gone a long period of time without playing football. There's nothing better than playing for Manchester United, there's nothing more rewarding."