Manchester United legend Andy Cole fears his former club could be putting too much pressure on young forward Mason Greenwood.
The 17-year-old scored his first two senior goals in United's recent wins over Astana in the Europa League and Rochdale in the Carabao Cup , with the latter success coming on penalties.
But in between that the teenager missed the Premier League defeat West Ham through injury.
Cole - who played 275 times for United, winning five Premier League titles and the Champions League - has no doubts about the ability of the youngster, but fears that United's lack of options in the forward department means that Greenwood could be under too much pressure to deliver at his tender age.
"He’s got a chance, he has got a chance," Cole told BBC Radio 5 Live.
"His finishing is a joke. Left or right foot, he’s got quality in abundance.
"I just hope they don’t, which Manchester United won’t do anyway, they won’t put too much undue pressure on him. He’s got great ability.
"The disappointing thing is he’s going to have to get thrown into the deep end a little bit earlier than they would have liked, due to injuries, due to them being prepared to allow [Romelu] Lukaku and [Alexis] Sanchez go.
"They’re looking at it and saying ‘we’ve got Mason, we’re going to give Marcus [Rashford] the opportunity to play centre-forward."
Greenwood is set to be involved when United take on Arsenal at Old Trafford in the Premier League on Monday evening, and could even make his first league start for the club in attack.
Rashford remains a doubt for the game having picked up an injury in the 2-0 loss at West Ham last weekend.
