Romelu Lukaku is happy and staying “professional” despite his limited opportunities under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer so far.
Lukaku started Manchester United’s 2-0 FA Cup win at Chelsea on Monday night, partnering Marcus Rashford up front as Solskjaer deployed a midfield diamond.
The Belgian was restored to the side following injuries to Anthony Martial and Jesse Lingard, two of Solskjaer’s first-choice front three.
It was only Lukaku’s fifth start for United since Solskjaer’s appointment and only two of those five have come in the Premier League, with the other three in the FA Cup.
But Lukaku said on Monday night suggested that he is not overly concerned by his lack of starts and is ready to play whenever and wherever Solskjaer asks.
“You just have to be professional and give it your best when your chance comes,” he said. “That’s my mindset, and I’m just taking it a day at a time.
“I can play however the manager needs me, if it’s alone or with Marcus behind me or out wide. As long as the manager needs me, I’m ready to play.”
When asked whether he was pleased to be back in the starting line-up, Lukaku said: “Definitely. We knew today was an important game and everybody did their tasks well.
“It was difficult. We needed to be professional. We knew there was going to be space to play because they press really high and we exploited that.”
Having progressed past Chelsea, United will play Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux in the quarter-finals on the weekend of March 16 & 17.
