London, Jan 27 (IANS): Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim has humorously remarked that his two months at the helm of the club have made him feel a decade older, saying he now feels 50 instead of the 40 years, which he turns on Monday.
United handed the Portuguese an early birthday present Lisandro Martinez's deflected shot earned Manchester United a 1-0 victory against Fulham, with Amorim turning down the players request to have Monday off.
"It's not 40...I'm 50! After two months at Manchester United, it's 50," joked Amorim on BBC Match of the Day 2. "It's a privilege to spend my 40th birthday here.
"They asked for the day off tomorrow. I didn't give it, so we are training because it's my birthday and my gift is to work with the guys who didn't play. It will be fantastic because we won. Then I will have dinner with my kids."
When asked about Marcus Rashford's absence after the match, Amorim said he would rather play his 63-year-old goalkeeper coach, Jorge Vital, unless Rashford starts giving his best in training and in life on a daily basis.
Rashford was left out of the team for an 11th successive match and has not played since United beat Viktoria Plzen in the UEFA Europa League on 12 December.
"It’s the same, it’s always the same reason. The reason is the training, the way I see what footballers should do in training, in life, it’s every day, every detail," explained Amorim.
"So if things don’t change, I will not change. It’s the same situation for every player. If you do the maximum, if you do the right things, we can use every player. You can see on the bench we miss a bit of pace on the bench. But I would put Vital before a player who doesn't give the maximum every day," he added.
This third away victory in the league this season moves United up to 12th place in the table, with focus now shifting back to the UEFA Europa League in a busy January schedule.
Amorim's men travel to Romania to take on FCSB on Thursday, knowing another win will secure progress into the competition's Round of 16.