Mourinho thrilled with Martial’s perseverance

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho admits it was Anthony Martial’s own hard work in training that saw the Frenchman force his way back into his starting line-up for Saturday’s 2-0 win over Watford.

The Red Devils eased to three points at Old Trafford, with Martial setting up Juan Mata for the game’s opening goal before sealing the win himself in the second half.

The 21-year-old terrorised Craig Cathcart all afternoon, and Mourinho claims Martial’s application on the Carrington training ground got the Frenchman back into his good books.

“I’m happy with Anthony’s last two weeks of work,” he said. “The way he faced the work, hard work, with more concentration and more determination

“That’s why I gave him this gift, to start this game. Normally, after Leicester, I’d start with the same players and keep Marcus [Rashford] in the team.

“I just felt Marcus doesn’t need a boost because he’s playing all the time. Anthony was maybe feeling a little bit down and needed a gift. He answered in the best way.

“The Anthony Martial I want is the Martial of the last two weeks of training. If he trains the way he did in the past two weeks, he performs naturally the way he did against Watford – or better.

“I think he is still missing a bit of his confidence. I kept shouting at him to attack the defender and go to the one-on-one as he needs that confidence but he’s working very well.

“Anthony needs to feel that I am looking at him and that I know what he did in training and the effort he put in. So I gave him his chance and he played well. He had a good game for me.”