Manchester United loan watch as James Garner closes in on Wembley, Amad handed rare start

As the season draws to a close, Manchester United’s loanees will be aiming to make a late push to impress incoming manager Erik ten Hag.

For a lot of the players who made their way out on temporary moves from Old Trafford, their campaign is already over, and they’ll have to wait and see what their new boss has in store for them back at United. For others though, there’s still plenty to play for.

Donny van de Beek and Brandon Williams missed out on their chances to stake a claim ahead of Ten Hag’s arrival, with the former left out of Everton’s squad against Brentford as the latter was left on the bench. There were though five United loanees in action on Saturday, and we’ve taken a look at how they got on.

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Garner went another step closer to getting a promotion to the Premier League on his CV as Nottingham Forest won the first leg of their play-off semi-final against Sheffield United. The midfielder played the full 90 minutes as the visitors claimed a 2-1 victory thanks to goals from Jack Colback and Brennan Johnson, with Sander Berge hitting back late on for the Blades.

It wasn’t quite the all-action display we’ve come to expect from Garner this season, although he nevertheless played an important part as Forest took a vital advantage into their second leg. They’ll be hoping to book their place at Wembley back at the City Ground as they chase their long-awaited return to the top tier.

Garner isn’t the only United player looking to earn promotion through the play-offs. Young goalkeeper Nathan Bishop is looking to go up from League Two with Mansfield, and the Stags made the perfect start to their semi-final against