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If you can't win, don't lose - according to traditional wisdom.

Before their trip to Forest, Manchester United had gained only eight points from losing positions with Ruben Amorim. They had failed to secure a single point from the previous six games when they trailed since the match to Bournemouth last spring, when a late goal secured a draw.

When they were behind at the stadium after conceding twice in a short span, as Nottingham Forest reversed a controversial first-half opener, Manchester United were staring down the barrel.

The question to the manager after his side fought back to tie could not have been any clearer.

Had that match happened the previous campaign, do you believe you would have lost it?'

The response was equally emphatic.

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

We can never know the actual outcome. What we do know that the young player showed why Amorim selects him at defensive wing by scoring a spectacular volleyed strike from just outside the box late in the game to earn a draw.

It has been obvious since the start of the campaign that Manchester United are playing better this term. Since the beginning of autumn, they have additionally been achieving more positive outcomes.

The resolve, the will, the unwillingness to surrender are unquantifiables.

In this game, Amorim believed his players showed they have improved at that as well.

"Previously, if we had this kind of bad five minutes and we conceded two goals, we don't recover," stated the coach. "Now is a distinct feeling. It's evident we could not win the match but we are not going to lose. And that is a feeling a big team sometimes must possess."

The manager didn't say it, but the signing of the Brazilian forward and Bryan Mbeumo probably made a difference.

Cunha is not the type to retreat from difficult situations, quite the reverse in fact. In the first half, when he was booed by the home fans for what they believed was his gamesmanship, he responded - rather than ignore it - gesturing toward the badge on his shorts.

Mbeumo is a energetic nuisance, the epitome of a footballer who will not give an opponent a moment's peace.

The coach was questioned precisely what had led to the psychological growth. Beyond mentioning the confidence generated from the previous three consecutive victories, he didn't really give an answer.

"Our self-belief, of course, is completely changed," he said. "We came from three positive performances and we have a different assurance. We understand one another better. We talk more about these aspects.

"We demonstrated this year we can experience bad moments but suddenly, we have three good games.

"It's essential to remain engaged in the match until the final 10 minutes. In the past, we could have lost everything based on how we played the encounter. Now, the impression was not that one."

Doubt Remains Over Prospects of the striker and Mainoo

While this represented a day when the team displayed their resilience, it was additionally a day that must have left the Dutch forward and the young midfielder even more unsure of their futures in Amorim's revamped squad.

In his pre-match press conference, the coach said it was likely members of the squad who think they are at danger of not making the World Cup will ask to leave in the January transfer window.

It is fair to assume the striker and the midfielder fall into that category. Zirkzee has accumulated 82 minutes from his four top-flight substitute appearances in the current campaign. For Mainoo, the total is over two hours from 7.

Neither has begun a Premier League game this season and nor were they called upon to come off the bench at the City Ground, as the team sought a route to recovery into a contest they were losing from the 50th minute.

"Our squad includes a great deal of talent on the substitutes but sometimes I have the impression if I'm going to disrupt the flow constantly, I'm going to break the rhythm," said the manager. "Our performance was getting better during the later stages, so my feeling was not to change anything with the players in attack."

The midfielder had a deal in progress to move to Napoli in the last days of the summer window but the club would not approve a deal. The striker was coming back from a fitness issue but is currently open to the idea of a move back to Italy.

The situation is made more complex by the loss of the winger and the wing-back to the continental tournament in the middle of the winter, a time which features a couple of weekday matches which will demand a level of rotation unseen before.

Since the final is on January 18th, the pair are expected to be returned well before the signing period closes on 2 February - which may mean a later outcome than any eager to leave player would prefer.

"This is about the characteristics of the game," commented the coach, when asked directly about Zirkzee and Mainoo. "They know it's only a phase.

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