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Rob Dawson, Correspondent
Ruben Amorim has insisted Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho were not axed from his squad for the Manchester derby because of breaches of discipline.
The pair were omitted from Manchester United‘s matchday squad ahead of the dramatic 2-1 win over Manchester City on Sunday. United clarified before kick-off that both players are not injured and were able to train as normal at Carrington on Sunday morning.
Asked after the game about the reasons for his decision, Amorim suggested it was based on performances in training rather than a punishment for a disciplinary issue.
“It’s important to say why: it was not a disciplinary thing,” Amorim told a postmatch news conference. “Next week, next game, new life, they are fighting for their places.
“For me it’s important, the performance in training, the performance in games, the way you dress, the way you eat, the way you engage with teammates, the way you push your teammates.
“Everything is important in our context in the beginning of something when we want to change a lot of things, when people in our club are losing their jobs we have to set the standards really high and for that they have to fight for a place in the team.
“Today the team proved we can leave anyone out of the squad and manage to win if you play together. If it was disciplinary, I would say that here and it will be a bigger problem but was not that.”
United won the game at the Etihad Stadium with two late goals after going behind to Josko Gvardiol‘s first-half header.
Bruno Fernandes scored a penalty in the 88th minute before Amad scored a 90th-minute winner after rounding Éderson.
Amorim called it a “good day” but afterwards he was forced to address online leaks which revealed his starting XI against City nearly 24 hours before kick-off.
Team selections are usually made public 75 minutes before the game while United’s team to start at the Etihad Stadium was circulating on social media on Saturday evening.
“I know that story,” Amorim said in response. “I don’t know. I think it’s impossible to fix nowadays because you have a lot of people in the club.
“The players talk with agents, you can talk with a friend. So it’s hard to know. It’s not a good thing but let’s move on and go to the next one and see if they find the next starting XI.”