Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has explained an early substitution for Paul Pogba in yesterday’s 3-2 win at Brighton.

Pogba was substituted just after the hour mark in the second Premier League match running after another subdued performance in United’s win at Brighton.

The 27-year-old tested positive for COVID-19 last month and started training with United just over two weeks ago and was selected in the starting XI against Crystal Palace last week but struggled.

Despite Pogba’s form, Solskjaer believes the Frenchman will have benefited from his two starts.

“He missed a lot of pre-season because of his illness,” Solskjaer said. “He’s not had internationals or the friendly against Villa. The two 65 minutes he’s had will help him along and he’ll just get better and better.”

Solskjaer was encouraged by United’s resolve for the late thriller.

“Big plus and the team spirit and character of the boys I don’t doubt at all,” he added. “Sometimes, though, these games when you travel down to the coast, it’s an early kick-off, you don’t et started and we didn’t until they scored.

“And that was the kick up the backside we needed. We played well after they scored the first, good reaction and towards the end a great reaction.

“We tired towards the end and that’s the reason why they pegged us back the last 10 or 15 minutes.”