Erik ten Hag hails Manchester United quartet following win over Nottingham Forest

Casemiro put in a man-of-the-match performance for the Red Devils, while Shaw was pressed into action in the middle of the defence due to the absences of Lisandro Martinez and Victor Lindelof.

Harry Maguire was back in the squad for Man United following illness, but the club captain was not deemed fit enough to start, which led to Shaw playing alongside Varane.

The latter was back in the side just nine days after representing France in the 2022 World Cup final.

Ten Hag has hailed the performances of the trio, in addition to praising Rashford, who opened the scoring against Forest before turning provider for Anthony Martial to score a second.

"I can't deny that (Casemiro impressive), I can only confirm. It is a pleasure to work with him, I think everyone sees how important his role is. The performance, the level he brings to the team is huge," Ten Hag told Amazon Prime.

"It looked like Luke has played there all his life at centre-half. He did a fantastic job, so it is good to know that we have options there, and that is also what you need for the whole squad - have players who can play in more positions.

"He was really composed, really decisive there and determined to play that position. It was a really good performance.

"Rapha, I think, he shows once again his great personality, the great standards he is giving Manchester United by coming from the World Cup. We had a problem in the centre-half position and he is taking responsibility to play and he performed really well. He was, once again, very important for our team.

"It's my job to make the team perform and make the individuals perform, to bring them in their best position, also mentally bring them in the best mood. So I try to do my best every game.

"There is still room for improvement from Marcus but this one [performance] was at a good level and he's unstoppable if he keeps in this spirit, this focus, I am sure the process will keep going and he'll score more goals and get more assists."

Fred came off the bench to score Man United's third in the 87th minute of the contest, with Man United moving onto 29 points from their 15 Premier League matches this season.

The Red Devils are now only one point behind fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur in the table, with a game in hand on the North London side.