Ole Gunnar Solskjaer told Paul Pogba he has a vital role to play for Manchester United between now and the end of the season.
United overcame AC Milan 2-1 on aggregate in their two-legged Europa League last-16 tie, largely thanks to Pogba's second-half cameo in the San Siro on Thursday night. The Frenchman made his comeback from a thigh injury, coming on at half-time to score the decisive goal as United won 1-0 on the night in Milan.
Others like Luke Shaw and Dean Henderson impressed, but Solskjaer admitted United had badly missed a player of Pogba's quality in recent weeks.
"We've come through a very difficult tie against a fantastic club, very good team, and we've overcome some difficulties definitely," the United boss told BT Sport.
"We've missed Paul. He's been out for almost two months and of course any team would miss a player like Paul Pogba.
"He was just getting into his best form and he's going to give us a big boost for the rest of the season. And today he made a very big difference to us."
Solskjaer also praised United's defence and clean sheet record, as they recorded a shut-out for the eighth time in 11 games.
"You give yourselves a chance to win a game of football," he added on the recent clean sheet record. "Dean had a very big save at the end from the big lad. And I'm very pleased with everyone's defending. You see from the front with Dan James, Mason, Marcus and Bruno, the front four pressing like they do.
"And we always know the back six, Scott and Fred with the front four, they're going to give everything.
"You've got to be spot on when you play cup competitions. But we're through, we're confident and we're happy and let's see who we get in the draw.
"Another big game Sunday [against Leicester in the FA Cup], we're looking forward to a break from the league. Dust ourselves down and let's go again."
