Paul Scholes believes Paul Pogba’s return to the Manchester United first team will be the catalyst in Romelu Lukaku turning around is poor goalscoring form of late while also improving the performances of the team as a whole.

Pogba has missed the last seven weeks after suffering a hamstring strain against Basle in the Champions League in September, leaving United light in midfield after injuries to Michael Carrick and Marouane Fellaini.

Since the £89m man’s injury, United’s style of football has taken a hit, with Wednesday night only the second time they has scored more than one goal in their last six matches.

Manchester United vs Benfica player ratings Show all 11 1 /11 Manchester United vs Benfica player ratings Manchester United vs Benfica player ratings David de Gea - 7 Made an impressive acrobatic save from a long shot and turned a goal-bound effort wide in the second half. Getty Manchester United vs Benfica player ratings Matteo Darmian - 6 Rarely ventured forward and was composed at the back. A reasonable performance. Getty Manchester United vs Benfica player ratings Eric Bailly - 4 A difficult night for Eric Bailly who could have conceded a penalty in the first half and then had a pass intercepted which led to Benfica hitting the post. Getty Manchester United vs Benfica player ratings Chris Smalling - 6 No glaring individual errors but he did not exude confidence at the back. Getty Manchester United vs Benfica player ratings Daley Blind - 5 Had a tough night against Benfica's right-back, Douglas, who overlapped at every opportunity he could. Took a good penalty and scored United's second goal of the game. Getty Manchester United vs Benfica player ratings Scott McTominay - 6 Did not appear phased on his first start in the Champions League. Enjoyed a fairly uneventful game alongside Matic. One for the future. Getty Manchester United vs Benfica player ratings Nemanja Matic - 7 Fired a long range shot which struck the post and bounced in off Mile Svilar. Defensively sound and commanding in the midfield. Getty Manchester United vs Benfica player ratings Juan Mata - 5 Was quiet playing on the right side of midfield. Substituted in the 68th minute after a lackluster performance. Getty Manchester United vs Benfica player ratings Jesse Lingard - 5 Started behind Romelu Lukaku and played the number 10 role by name only. He often drifted wide and left that key space in the middle vacant. He took a knock in the first half and was replaced at halftime. Getty Manchester United vs Benfica player ratings Anthony Martial - 7 Won a penalty then saw a tame effort saved. Made plenty of direct runs and made defenders look foolish as he glided beyond them. Getty Manchester United vs Benfica player ratings Romelu Lukaku - 5 Went missing in the first half and had a chance to end his mini goal drought but saw a tame effort saved when one-on-one. Hold up play was pretty poor, as was his all round game. Getty

Jose Mourinho has taken the brunt of the blame for these more reserved tactics but Scholes believes United will be back to their fluid attacking early season form once Pogba is back.

He also believes his influence will bring the best out of Lukaku who, after scoring 11 goals in his first 12 games, has failed to score in his last six.

“I think if Pogba comes back he'll make a difference to the way they play,” Scholes told BT Sport.

“He links the team together and I don't think they have a good enough No 10 at the moment and that doesn't help Lukaku either.

“Pogba will make a difference and be more positive. Lukaku is having to do a lot for himself but Pogba will make the difference.