Kobbie Mainoo reacts to first senior Manchester United call-up by Erik ten Hag

Kobbie Mainoo is aiming for much more involvement in the Manchester United first team after experiencing his first senior call-up.

United faced Newcastle United on Sunday in a match that ended in a goalless stalemate following two disallowed goals, waved-away penalty appeals and galling misses by Fred and Marcus Rashford. Erik ten Hag was without several of his first-team players, though, with Anthony Martial, Christian Eriksen, Harry Maguire, Donny van de Beek and Aaron Wan-Bissaka all sidelined.

Scott McTominay was also unavailable as he served a one-match suspension after picking up five yellow cards throughout the campaign. The multiple absences left United extremely low on options with midfield significantly impacted.

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As a result, Ten Hag was forced to name several youngsters on the bench with Alejandro Garnacho, Facundo Pellistri, and Zidane Iqbal all in the squad. There was also a place, for the very first time, for Mainoo.

The 17-year-old is one of the most exciting prospects in the club academy and though Garnacho grabbed the headlines with his goals in last season's FA Youth Cup triumph, it was Mainoo's dominance in midfield that played perhaps an even bigger role in United winning the trophy.

Mainoo has now set his sights on being with the first team more often. "Good to be around it yesterday [Sunday]," he wrote on Instagram accompanied by photos from the match. "Hopefully more to come."

With McTominay back available again, Mainoo will likely not be involved in Wednesday's game against Tottenham but he has clearly caught the eye of Ten Hag.

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