Two Manchester United players have proved their worth to Erik ten Hag during injury crisis

Erik ten Hag seemed to be the angriest he'd been as Manchester United manager after the heavy Sevilla defeat last month. His blood pressure had clearly been raised at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium by another shameful performance.

In the dressing room, Ten Hag reminded his players of the standards required to represent the club and he reiterated that during his post-match press conference, appearing to suggest that some would be sold if failing to meet his demands.

The players were asked to respond and Victor Lindelof and Luke Shaw have certainly risen to that challenge in the 15 days since that defeat in Spain. Both players have been exceptional and have made individual statements to the manager.

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With first-choice defenders Lisandro Martinez and Raphael Varane sidelined with injury, Shaw has been relocated to centre-back and his recent partnership with Lindelof has been key in preventing a disappointing result from becoming a disappointing run of form.

They were excellent together against Brighton, which ensured progression to the FA Cup final. Although the victory was thrown away against Tottenham, they emerged with credit again and they kept a clean sheet against a confident Aston Villa side.

United might have lost Martinez and Varane to injury, but the backline has delivered when Lindelof and Shaw have played. The pair deserve immense credit and especially so when considering they've both faced spells out of the team this season.

Shaw started the season against Brighton and Brentford but he did not start for another five games after the aberration in West London. Tyrell Malacia came into the side but was substituted at half-time in