If you can't win, don't lose - so the old saying goes. Before their trip to Nottingham Forest, Manchester United had gained just eight points from losing positions under Ruben Amorim. They had not got any from the past six matches when they found themselves behind since the trip to Bournemouth last April, when Rasmus Hojlund's last-minute effort snatched a draw. When they found themselves trailing at the City Ground after conceding twice in a couple of minutes, as Forest overturned a contentious first-half opener, United were staring down the barrel. The question to Amorim after his side recovered to draw could not have been any clearer. 'If that game had happened last season, do you feel you would have lost it?' The answer was equally emphatic. "Yes, and by more goals, that is my feeling." We can never know the reality. What we do know is Amad Diallo showed why Amorim picks him at wing-back by flashing home a sensational first-time volley from just outside the penalty area nine minutes from time to earn a point.

It has been obvious since the start of the season United are playing better this term. Since the beginning of October, they have also been getting better results. The determination, the desire, the refusal to give in are unquantifiables. In this game, Amorim felt his players showed they have got better at that too. "In the past, if we had this kind of bad five minutes and we suffered two goals, we don't recover," said Amorim. "Today is a different feeling. You can sense we could not win this game but we are not going to lose. And that is a feeling a big team sometimes has to have."

Amorim didn't say it, but the arrival of Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo must have helped. Cunha is not one to shy away from difficult situations, quite the reverse in fact. In the first half, when he was booed by the home fans for what they felt was his gamesmanship, he responded - rather than ignore it - pointing to the badge on his shorts. Mbeumo is a hustle-bustle menace, the epitome of a player who will not give an opponent any rest. Amorim was asked precisely what had led to the mental improvement. Beyond saying the confidence generated from the previous three successive wins, he didn't really give an answer. "The confidence, of course, is completely different," he said. "We came from three good games and we have a different confidence. We understand each other better. We talk more about this. "We proved this year we can have bad moments but suddenly, we have three good games. "We just need to be inside the game until the final 10 minutes. In the past, we could have lost everything the way we played the game. Today, the feeling was not that one."

If this was a day when United showed their resilience, it was also a day that must have left Joshua Zirkzee and Kobbie Mainoo even more uncertain of their futures in Amorim's new-look Manchester United. In his pre-match press conference, Amorim said it was possible players who think they are at risk of missing the World Cup will ask to leave in the January transfer window. It is fair to assume Zirkzee and Mainoo fall into that bracket. Zirkzee has managed 82 minutes from his four Premier League substitute appearances this season. For Mainoo, the number is 138 from seven. Neither has started a Premier League game this season and nor were they asked to come off the bench at the City Ground, as United chased a way back into a game they were losing from the 50th minute. "We have a lot of quality on the bench but sometimes I have the feeling if I'm going to stop the game all the time, I'm going to break something," said Amorim. "We were improving during the second half, so my feeling was not to change anything with the guys in front."

Mainoo had a deal in place to join Napoli in the last days of the summer window but United would not sanction a deal. Zirkzee was coming back from injury but is now open to the idea of a return to Italy. The situation is complicated by the loss of Mbeumo and Amad to the Africa Cup of Nations in the middle of December, a period which includes a couple of midweek games which will demand a level of rotation not previously needed. As the final is on 18 January, the pair should be back well before the transfer window closes on 2 February - which may mean a later resolution than any wantaway player would like. "It is the characteristics of the game," said Amorim, when asked specifically about Zirkzee and Mainoo. "They know it's just a moment. "It's nothing to do with quality - and we have a lot of games."