Manchester United defender Luke Shaw was thrilled to see Paul Pogba back in the team against Tottenham – and credited the midfielder with making the difference in Friday’s draw.
The Red Devils had enjoyed a fine run of form prior to the coronavirus lockdown, but struggled to pick up where they left off in their first Premier League match back in action.
David de Gea was at fault as Steven Bergwijn fired past the goalkeeper at his near post to put Jose Mourinho’s men ahead against his former employers after 27 minutes.
United rallied after half-time, with Pogba’s entrance from the bench galvanising his team-mates, and salvaged a 1-1 draw thanks to Bruno Fernandes’ penalty.
And Shaw believes that the France midfielder, who played for the first time since Boxing Day, will be a huge asset for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s charges in the bid for Champions League qualification.
“I told him afterwards how much of a difference he made,” he told United’s official website.
“He didn’t play for that long but obviously it’s great to have him and Rashy [Marcus Rashford] back in the side.
“They are very important players and maybe we can see Paul from the start on Wednesday.”
While United failed to mark their return to action with three points, Shaw was nevertheless happy with what he saw after more than three months of inactivity.
“We never give up and we kept going,” he added.
“We felt fit, we felt stronger than them and we felt like they were struggling at times. We kept going and got the penalty.
“I feel great. The break came at a difficult time as we were flying, but everyone’s worked really hard and kept in great shape over the period we had off. We’ve come back flying.
“We need to push on from here. The [unbeaten] run keeps going but we need to take away the draws and get the wins instead because that’s the most important thing.”
Friday’s draw means that United remain in fifth place in the Premier League, a spot that will assure them qualification for the Champions League should Manchester City fail in their bid to overturn suspension from the competition for next season.
They are back in action on Wednesday with a home clash against Sheffield United, who could move ahead of the Red Devils with victory over Newcastle United on Sunday.