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Solskjaer defends captaincy decision

Cape Town - Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has defended his decision to hand the captain's armband to Axel Tuanzebe ahead of the likes of Paul Pogba and Sergio Romero.

The Red Devils beat Rochdale on penalties in the third round of the EFL Cup.

Solskjaer took the opportunity against lower league opposition to give a number of youngsters minutes.

Pogba meanwhile, was back playing for United, and immediately back in the sports pages.

Solskjaer explained his reasons for snubbing more experienced players like Pogba, in giving the armband to Tuanzebe.

Solskjaer told talkSPORT: "Axel is a captain in the making, he's a leader - why not give to young kids?

"We know we can give it to Sergio [Romero] and we can give it to Paul, that's no problem and they've been captains before.

"But it was Axel today and how does he handle it? He was absolutely fine, he enjoyed it.

"It's just a way of telling him that we trust him."

Mason Greenwood, at just 17 years of age, added another senior goal in the 1-1 draw, while 21-year-old Daniel James converted the match-winning penalty.

The Red Devils boss added: "Some players learned a lot and some proved to us that we can give them more responsibility.

"Mason again showed with his goalscoring abilities why we regard him so highly.

"He has two great feet and took the penalty with his right, so he must be a nightmare for defenders having him one on one in the box.

"He can go both ways, which is for me fantastic and you can just see he has got quality and he will get his share of games.

"But he is young and we will give him time to grow."

- TeamTalk Media

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