Anthony Martial "didn't want to be in the squad" as Manchester United were held to a frustrating draw at Aston Villa, interim manager Ralf Rangnick has confirmed.
The Red Devils squandered a two-goal lead in the closing stages to drop more valuable points in the race for a top-four finish in the Premier League on Saturday evening.
Bruno Fernandes scored either side of the interval before Jacob Ramsey halved the deficit and Philippe Coutinho sent Villa Park wild with a goal on his debut for the club.
United were without talisman Cristiano Ronaldo and fellow forward Marcus Rashford through injury, and they only named eight players - including two goalkeepers - on their bench compared to Villa's nine.
Rangnick confirmed he was left light of options in attack after wantaway attacker Martial chose not to travel to the Midlands.
Did Manchester United miss Anthony Martial against Aston Villa? Have your say in the comments...
"He didn't want to be in the squad," Rangnick said. "He would have been in the squad normally, but he didn't want to. That is the reason why he was not travelling with us yesterday."
Martial, 26, is heavily linked with a January exit from United after his agent declared he is unhappy with his lack of opportunities at Old Trafford.
A host of clubs across Europe are monitoring the situation and Sevilla are believed to be in pole position to sign the Frenchman.
In his absence, United took an early lead against Villa as Emiliano Martinez spilled Fernandes' shot from range.
The Portugal international added his second against the run of play in the second half but Villa stunned their visitors with two goals in five minutes to rescue a point.
Rangnick admitted the result was "difficult to accept" and was adamant his side's performance warranted all three points.
"It is difficult to accept this result after being 2-0 up and in quite a few spells of the game, I think it was the best performance since I arrived," the German told BBC Match of the Day .
"In the first half an hour, we completely dominated and controlled the game on the ball. Defensively, we played compact and tight.
"But again, when you are 2-0 up and throw away two valuable points, it almost feels like a defeat, but we have to look ahead and take the best out of it. in spells, it was a very good performance today."
The result leaves United seventh in the table, five points behind West Ham with a game in hand on the fourth-placed club.
Meanwhile, Villa leapfrogged Brentford to go 13th and avoid a third consecutive defeat.
