Man Utd forced to name eight teenagers on bench for Tottenham clash | OneFootball

Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim was forced into naming eight teenagers on his substitutes bench for the club's meeting with Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday afternoon.

Amad Diallo is set to miss the rest of the season with an ankle issue, joining Lisandro Martinez in a crowded treatment which also contains Luke Shaw, Jonny Evans and Mason Mount. Leny Yoro and Christen Eriksen were two more surprise absentees to emerge ahead of kick-off.

This luck-less sequence of events forced Amorim to turn to youth. Of the nine players named on the bench for the trip to Spurs, Victor Lindelof (30) was the only player older than 19.

Left-back Harry Amass, midfielder Jack Fletcher and record-breaking striker Chido Obi represent the three 17-year-olds. Goalkeeper Ely Harrison and winter arrival Ayden Heaven are both 18 while a trio of 19-year-olds - Tyler Fredricson, Jack Moorhouse and Sekou Kone completed the embryonic bench. Six of the substitutes were born after the Glazers bought Manchester United.

"We have kids with less responsibility, less weight on their shoulders," Amorim said pre-game, putting a positive spin on the chronic inexperience he's been left with. "They are good players. If needed we will put the kids to play and maybe we will find good things in this moment."

Amorim added: "We never know. That is the beauty of football. So we have young kids, maybe with less responsibility, less weight on their shoulders, and they are there.

"They are practicing. They are good players."