Roy Keane reacts to Erik ten Hag's decision to bench Cristiano Ronaldo and aims Anthony Martial dig

Former Manchester United captain Roy Keane has supported Erik ten Hag's decision to leave Cristiano Ronaldo out of his starting line-up for this afternoon's Premier League opener against Brighton & Hove Albion.

The Portugal captain, who wants to leave United this summer in pursuit of Champions League football, earned just 45 minutes worth of football during pre-season, starting last Sunday's 1-1 draw with Rayo Vallecano. He missed the pre-season tour of Thailand and Australia due to "family issues."

Despite that, there was a feeling that Ronaldo could have bagged himself a starting berth this afternoon because of an injury to Anthony Martial. The latter established himself as United's leading marksman during pre-season, scoring three times.

READ MORE: Manchester United vs Brighton LIVE

However, Ten Hag, who criticised Ronaldo's decision to leave Old Trafford early last week, leaving the stadium before the clash with Vallecano had finished, has refused to award him a starting berth, seemingly deploying Bruno Fernandes as a false-nine instead. Regardless of Ronaldo's status and immaculate body condition, Keane has welcomed Ten Hag's decision.

"I think it was a straight forward call for the manager," Keane told Sky Sports. "As brilliant as Ronaldo is, he only got 45 minutes in pre-season.

"I don't care how well you look after yourself, you need more than that over the course of pre-season. He's looking at the players he's got. Brighton at home, they fancy their chances to beat Brighton."

With less than a month to go until the window closes, speculation concerning Ronaldo's future continues to rumble on. He wants to leave Old Trafford, but a departure risks leaving United light on options at the top end of the