Three things spotted at training as Manchester United set to return in action

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English football is back in action following the conclusion of the World Cup. The League Cup's fourth round of fixtures is already on its way and Manchester United are set to play Burnely next at Old Trafford.

The Red Devils' squad had an absentee of 13 players during the World Cup. However, apart from two - Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez, who competed in the final, all the others have joined the side.

Christian Eriksen and Facundo Pellistri joined the side last week while the rest of the members connected with them at the start of this week.

Erik Ten hag however has handled two friendlies in between to keep the tempo of the current side and the squad looks to be training at full force to prepare ahead of the second half of the season.

Here are three things that were witnessed during the Red Devils training session-

More Youngster involvement:

The Dutch manager has often put his trust in young talents from the ranks and during the break, he has counted on several new faces who could now be involved in the first team. During defeats against Cadiz and Real Betis during the Spain training camp and a 1-1 draw with Everton in another friendly on home turf, a couple of youngsters got the nod for first-team action. 17-year-old Kobbie Mainoo has been added to the first team set-up and has been joined by 19-year-old defender Rhys Bennett and Zidane Iqbal. It now remains to be seen how they grab the opportunity and cement a place in the final squad.

Opportunity for fringe players:

A number of fringe players were involved in training in the meantime and they will be hoping the break handed them new opportunities at United. The likes of Aaron Wan Bissaka, Elanga, Donny van de Beek, etc have found first-team action hard to come by. However, the gap has handed them fresh opportunities to impress the boss. And with a lot of World Cup participants requiring time to gel with the team again, it could hand them more first-team prospects

Anthony Martial is raring to go:

Following the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo and Marcus Rashford holding energy following his exploits with England at the World Cup, Martial finds himself as the only fully fit number nine at the club ahead of the Burnley game. The French international started well under the Dutch coach but lost rhythm following a series of injuries. He is now back fully fit and will be raring to go to make a mark in the second half of the season.