Many were shocked to see United being forced into making three changes before half-time against Liverpool on the weekend, especially when one of the players who came on, Jesse Lingard, was forced back off with an injury.

Marcus Rashford, who was taken off, hurt his ankle early in the first half, but stayed on the field for the rest of the Premier League clash. The England striker is expected to miss United's trip to Crystal Palace on Wednesday as a result.

French forward Anthony Martial has also been ruled out by his manager, as has Ander Herrera and Nemanja Matic.

When asked what Fred has to do to earn himself a place in the squad, especially with the current injury crisis, Solskjaer insisted the Brazilian simply needs to keep working as he has.

"Play well when he (Fred) gets a chance, keep on training as he does, keep working," he said, according to Sport360.

"We've had a midfield three of Herrera, (Paul) Pogba and Matic – they've done really well together.

"It's not like we've been really bogged down with too many games. That's why we've kept them three together.

"McTominay was the obvious choice against Liverpool because he's an academy kid. We had five academy kids on the pitch at one point. He knows what it means.

"Fred will get his chances – maybe tomorrow. You look more to the time it needs some time to settle. You see Juan Sebastian Veron, he's one of the best I played with and it took him time to settle in England.