Amorim says Fernandes irreplaceable

Ruben Amorim has urged his players to "step up" in the absence of "impossible to replace" skipper Bruno Fernandes.

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The Portugal international suffered a soft tissue injury sustained in Sunday's 2-1 loss at Aston Villa and, although Amorim believes the midfielder will be back soon, he is acutely aware of the need to fill the gap in United's attack.

Fernandes, who has started every Premier League match this season, is the English topflight's most creative player, creating 51 chances and while he is sidelined, United will also be without Kobbie Mainoo for tonight's clash at home to Newcastle. "It is impossible to replace Bruno but I said that this morning to the team," Amorim said.

"We need to take the good thing — if there is a good thing on that — that a lot of people need to step up and understand we cannot rely on one player for everything.

"Sometimes we rely on Bruno for organisation and the creation. We have lost Bruno on set-pieces, Bryan [Mbeumo] and Amad [Diallo] on set-pieces, so this is massive for the team.