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When you cannot win, avoid defeat - as the proverb states.

Before their journey to Nottingham Forest, Man Utd had earned only eight points from losing positions with their manager. They had failed to secure a single point from the past six games when they were losing since the match to Bournemouth last April, when a last-minute goal snatched a tie.

When they found themselves trailing at the City Ground after letting in two goals in a couple of minutes, as Nottingham Forest overturned a contentious first-half goal, Manchester United were facing defeat.

The question to Amorim after his side recovered to tie could not have been more straightforward.

Had that match happened the previous campaign, do you feel it would have ended in defeat?'

The response was just as decisive.

"Yes, and by more goals, I believe so."

We can never know the reality. What we do know that Amad Diallo showed why the coach selects him at wing-back by flashing home a brilliant first-time volley from near the edge of the box late in the game to secure a point.

It's been clear since the beginning of the campaign that United are playing better this term. Since the beginning of October, they have also been getting better results.

The determination, the will, the refusal to give in are unquantifiables.

In this match, Amorim felt his players showed they have got better at that as well.

"In the past, if we had this kind of bad short period and we conceded a couple of goals, we don't recover," stated the coach. "Now is a different sensation. It's evident we could not win this game but we are determined not to be defeated. And that is a mindset a major club sometimes has to have."

Amorim didn't mention it, but the arrival of Matheus Cunha and the winger must have helped.

The attacker is not the type to retreat from difficult situations, quite the reverse in fact. In the first half, when he was booed by the local supporters for what they believed was his tactical play, he reacted - rather than ignore it - pointing to the crest on his kit.

Mbeumo is a hustle-bustle menace, the epitome of a player who will not give an rival any rest.

The coach was asked exactly what had caused the psychological growth. Beyond saying the self-belief gained from the previous three successive wins, he didn't really give an explanation.

"The confidence, naturally, is completely changed," he stated. "We came from three good games and we have a different confidence. The players comprehend one another more effectively. We talk more about this.

"We proved this season we can experience difficult periods but suddenly, we have three good games.

"We just need to be engaged in the game until the final 10 minutes. In the past, we could have lost everything the way we performed in the game. Today, the impression was different."

Doubt Lingers Over Futures of the striker and Mainoo

If this was a occasion when United showed their fighting spirit, it was also a moment that must have left Joshua Zirkzee and the young midfielder even more unsure of their futures in the manager's revamped Manchester United.

In his pre-match press conference, Amorim stated it was likely members of the squad who think they are at danger of not making the World Cup will request transfers in the January transfer window.

One can reasonably conclude Zirkzee and Mainoo fall into that bracket. The forward has accumulated less than two full games from his 4 top-flight substitute appearances in the current campaign. For the young player, the number is over two hours from 7.

Not one has begun a league game this season and nor were they asked to come off the bench at the City Ground, as United sought a way back into a game they were trailing in from the 50th minute.

"We have a great deal of quality on the substitutes but at times I have the feeling if I'm going to disrupt the game all the time, I'm going to break the rhythm," explained the manager. "We were improving during the later stages, so my feeling was not to change anything with the guys in front."

The midfielder had a agreement in place to join the Italian club in the last days of the summer window but the club would not sanction a deal. Zirkzee was coming back from injury but is now open to the possibility of a move back to Italy.

The circumstances is made more complex by the loss of the winger and the wing-back to the Africa Cup of Nations in the middle of December, a time which includes a few midweek games which will demand a degree of rotation unseen before.

Since the championship match is on January 18th, the pair are expected to be back well before the signing period closes on 2 February - which may mean a delayed resolution than any wantaway player would like.

"This is about the demands of the game," commented the coach, when asked directly about Zirkzee and Mainoo. "The players understand it's only a phase.

"It isn't related to ability - and we have a lot of games."