“If it carries on going the way it is, I can’t,” Scholes said. “Maybe it will be re-assessed at the end of the season if he’s in and out of the team. I don’t see him as a player who will accept that. He will want to be at a team where he’s playing every week.

“It’s a strange one. No one will be more frustrated than Wayne at not playing. Being a sub will be driving him up the wall. When he gets his chance he has to take it because he has real competition. It will be killing him just coming in for the Europa League or the FA Cup. But it’s up to him to get his head down and prove he can play in the big games.”

United will make a late fitness decision on midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who missed the Saint-Etienne game through illness.