Luke Shaw is finally getting another chance to prove he can solve Manchester United ’s problems at left-back.
Defender Shaw has yet to play for the League Cup holders this season, having only just returned following a four-month injury lay-off with ligament damage suffered last April.
The 22-year-old has played three times for the reserves this season but was pulled out of that squad to face Chelsea on Monday, to keep him fresh for Wednesday night's visit from Championship side Burton that sees the Reds begin their defence of the trophy.
England international Shaw has endured three injury-blighted seasons since his much-heralded £27million move from Southampton in 2014, making just 47 appearances.
A broken leg saw him miss virtually all of the 2015-16 campaign, while current manager Jose Mourinho and predecessor Louis van Gaal both publicly questioned Shaw’s focus and professionalism.
But this week's Carabao Cup third round tie gives Shaw his latest opportunity to show he can finally make United's left-back position his own.
As well as Shaw, Mourinho has tried Matteo Darmian, Ashley Young, Daley Blind and Marcos Rojo there without anyone doing enough to make himself undroppable.
Former United defender turned top TV pundit Gary Neville, speaking after Sunday’s 4-0 Premier League win over Everton, identified the position as the one area still causing concern for Mourinho.
“I think the problem is at left-back, where Ashley Young was put under a lot of pressure by [Everton duo Tom] Davies and [Cuco] Martina,” said Neville.
“Blind’s played there, Rojo’s played there, Shaw’s played there, Darmian’s played there, but they can’t button that one down.”
Mourinho will rest several of his established players against Burton, but claimed his squad simply is not big enough for him to make wholesale changes to the line-up.
“I’ve given only four players two days off — David De Gea, Antonio Valencia, Nemanja Matic and Eric Bailly,” he said. “Apart from that, everyone is selected.
“It’s a competition, and we take it seriously. If we go to the next round, probably these guys [those rested on Wednesday] will play and I’ll give a rest to others.
“Our squad is good, but we don’t have 30 players. We have what we have, and a couple of injuries now with Paul Pogba and Axel Tuanzebe, so we need some of the players that played against Everton.
“We need some to be on the bench, we need to have a strong team. I know the quality of the Championship and I know if we don’t take it seriously, we’re going to lose.”
United club captain Michael Carrick, yet to feature this term, is set to start with Mourinho admitting he is one of several players who need to be patient.
“Sergio Romero played the Europa League final — which was the game of the season for us — and he is not playing [at the moment],” said Mourinho.
“Ander Herrera was [United's] player of the season and he’s not starting matches. That’s life in big clubs.
“We gave Michael a contract because we think he’s a good player, an important player. He’s just in a team where I think, in this moment, Nemanja Matic and Marouane Fellaini are in the best form that I’ve ever seen them.
“I never saw Matic or Fellaini play so well, so he’s in a team with these two guys playing absolutely phenomenally. So for Carrick and Ander it’s just patience, because that time will arrive and they’ll be important players for us, for sure.”
PROBABLE TEAMS
MANCHESTER UNITED Romero; Darmian, Smalling, Lindelof, Shaw; Carrick, Herrera; Lingard, Fellaini, Young; Martial.
BURTON Ripley, Allen, Turner, Buxton, Warnock, McFadzean, Akins, Palmer, Dyer, Varney, Mason.