‘I wouldn’t be surprised’ – Rangnick tips future Man Utd captain after Villa win

His comments come after United secured a narrow 1-0 win over Aston Villa to reach the fourth round of the FA Cup.

Rangnick has McTominay to thank after the Scot netted the only goal of the game, heading past Emi Martinez after connecting with Fred’s cross in the first half.

‘He is an academy boy, his energy is amazing,’ Rangnick said.

‘He now also starts scoring goals and also with some leadership skills.

‘I wouldn’t be surprised if in a couple of years he would be the captain of this team.’

Harry Maguire is the current club captain but was absent for United this evening due to a recent abdominal injury.

The performance was far from convincing against Villa, who were unlucky to see Danny Ings’ goal disallowed after a VAR check.

United did get back to winning ways following a 1-0 defeat to Wolves in the Premier League last time out though and will now face Middlesbrough in the FA Cup fourth round.

‘I think we showed a reaction after the Wolves game, that is what everyone expected from us,’ Rangnick added.

‘We knew it would be very difficult against Villa. In the first half I thought we did well. It could have been 3-2 or 4-3 to us at half time.

‘In the second half we were on the counter attack and we could have made more of those situations. We took the wrong decisions at times but when we changed to a diamond in midfield we had more control.

‘In the last 20 minutes we had more control. We fought well as a team together when it was important. In the end it was a good win. That was our goal, to proceed to the next round.’

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