'Don't regret' - Erik ten Hag defends game-changing decision as Man Utd lose to Nottingham Forest

Erik ten Hag has defended the decision to replace Kobbie Mainoo at half-time in Manchester United’s 2-1 defeat to Nottingham Forest.

The Red Devils went to the City Ground on the back of that comeback win over Aston Villa on Boxing Day, but couldn’t build on that victory, and were instead soundly beaten by a Forest side who claimed just their third home win of the season.

United had been poor in the opening 45 minutes but had limited Forest to speculative efforts from distance. But it was a different story in the second period, without Mainoo, who sat as the deepest midfielder in the first half.

Forest scored both goals from the edge of the box, with Nicolas Dominguez and Morgan Gibbs-White afforded ample time to place their shots past Andre Onana, ensuring Marcus Rashford’s 78th-minute strike proved irrelevant.

Mainoo had received on-field treatment before he was replaced by Scott McTominay at the break, with many assuming he was withdrawn due to an injury. But speaking after the game, Ten Hag said that was not the case.

“No [he wasn’t inured], but he played a third game in a row this week and that's tough, where he's coming from. I thought the energy was a little bit lower than the other two games this week, therefore we brought some new energy in.”

“I don't regret [it],” he added. “I thought Scott brought energy. I thought, second half was much better [for]m our side. The first goal when you analyse it, we were downsized. Nothing to do with the central midfield there. 

“Second goal was a counter-attack where there was a miscommunication, we had enough players. In the first half, there were some moments where they ran away, it's a good play but we should have tracked that.”

Asked for his verdict on the game, Ten Hag said: “One thing is clear, we are not consistent. We can beat the best teams in the league but we also lost one of them and today was one of them.

“It doesn't matter how we line up, we have to win, but the routines are not there and every time we have to swap,” he continued. “Today is another example. When [Ramsus] Hojlund is ill, we have to swap our frontline and we have seen it in the first half there was no speed in the game there.”

The loss to Forest was United’s first since 1992, while that was the Red Devils’ 14th league defeat of the season, the highest number before Christmas in a single campaign since 1930/31.