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- The Turkish goalkeeper came under fire after his display in the defeat by Spurs
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Altay Bayindir will play in goal for Manchester United in their FA Cup third tie at Arsenal on Sunday, head coach Ruben Amorim has revealed.
Bayindir’s four appearances for United have come in the cup competitions – three games in the Carabao Cup this season and in United’s FA Cup win at Newport County last term.
The Turkey international came under fire for his performance when United lost 4-3 in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals at Tottenham last month, but Amorim confirmed that his No.2 keeper will be back in goal when United return to North London to face Arsenal at the Emirates. ‘Altay is going to play,’ said the United boss.
On the possibility of more changes, Amorim added: ‘I think we rotated more in that part where we were trying to find out what kind of player do we have.
‘Then a lot of players were returning from injuries, now we are rotating less. I feel that sometimes I have to choose fresh legs because I look at same players in the best position and I feel they are at the same level, so I try to put some fresh legs [in].
‘Now we had time to train a little bit more, I expect our team to understand better the game. We try to work on set-pieces, we suffered a lot in the last games.
Ruben Amorim has revealed who will be starting in goal for his side’s FA Cup clash at Arsenal
The Man United head coach confirmed that Altay Bayindir will continue to be used as cup keeper
Andre Onana has missed only three games all season but will drop to the bench on Sunday
‘So we will see. I don’t rotate because I want to rotate. I’m trying to find the best solutions to win every game. Sometimes I have doubts about which player to put and then I put the guy who is more fresh to cope with the demands of the game.
‘In this moment, I am living day by day. What I am thinking is that we had one week without any game, we had a day off, we could work the team a little bit and then it doesn’t make sense for me to rest players now then to play both games really near.
‘So I think we have to put the best team, we have to win and we have to follow the last performance. So I’m not thinking in that way, because we are not in that moment, we are in a difficult moment, we are improving, we have some trainings, let’s put the best team to try to win and then we will focus on the next game.
‘So my focus is more on our week. We had time to train, to rest, so I will choose the best team to win because we want also to win the cup. In the cup, you never know. Sometimes it’s better to win this type of game and then you have less time to rest but your mind is so different you can cope with the physical aspect of the game.’
As he faces his first FA Cup tie as United boss, Amorim was ask what he knows about the competition. ‘I think what everybody sees,’ he added. ‘A really old competition with a lot of history.
‘I remember some finals, when we won the Treble against Newcastle and Sir Alex Ferguson saved some players (for the Champions League final). It was really important for the club.
‘We won some cups, we want to continue, we know at this stage we have a really strong match but we want to win and continue to improve the team and the performance.’
