Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag has defended his decision to take off Cristiano Ronaldo during their goalless draw with Newcastle United in the Premier League on Sunday.
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For the first time since United's 4-0 hammering away at Brentford in August, Ronaldo was named in a Ten Hag Premier League starting XI on the weekend.
His return as a starter yielded no returns for the Red Devils, however, as the Portuguese marksman was substituted off in the 72nd minute of the game despite the team's need for a goal.
When asked after the match why the five-time Ballon d'Or winner was taken off, Ten Hag insisted that Ronaldo needed to be fresh given the upcoming run of fixtures.
"We have to recover four games in 10 days and especially for the strikers, I want to keep them fresh," the Dutch tactician said post-match, as per ESPN.
"I want to keep them all fresh, we have to rotate because of some problems we have.
"[Anthony] Martial is not available in this moment, then Rashy [Marcus Rashford] was not well, so he did not have energy for the whole game.
"We had to plan to cover for the four games because we want to win or at least get a result in all four games."
The record Premier League winners have a daunting week ahead of them as they prepare to take on London sides Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur in the league, and given their lack of goals, will need as much firepower available up front.
The Mancunians are currently the second lowest goalscorers in the top half of the table with 13 strikes, but Ten Hag seems unfazed by the statistic.
"Our strikers will score, will score a lot, I'm confident about that, as long as we keep doing the work in and out of possession," he added.
"We score in almost every game. Today we didn't, but in the other games we score.
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"It's clear it's about taking responsibility, I am convinced our strikers will take responsibility, but also other players, midfielders and defenders can also score goals."
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