In the one-step forward, one-step back world Manchester United are living in just now, they took a stride in the right direction against Wolves at Molineux. Whether it is significant or not remains to be seen. After all, the big win at Crystal Palace nine days ago was followed by a dire draw against third-bottom West Ham.

Before that, a three-match winning run was followed by three games without a win, culminating in a home defeat by an Everton side reduced to 10 men after less than 15 minutes. Monday night's 4-1 drubbing of a hapless Wolves was United's biggest win of the season, equalling a four-goal haul Ruben Amorim's side have not bettered in the Premier League since he came to the club 13 months ago.

United had 27 shots, their most in a Premier League game under the Portuguese manager. They have now led in games for longer this season than they did in the entirety of the 2024-25 campaign. Yet Amorim felt compelled to add a caveat, making reference to Wolves' lack of points on the pitch and mutinous atmosphere off it. "This is a specific case," he said. "We faced a team that is really, really struggling. You can sense it in every situation of the game. This moment for Wolves is really hard, as a team and as a club. We took advantage of that."

It is why Amorim felt United were in danger of blowing a significant chance to climb into the top six and on the coattails of the sides in contention for Champions League qualification. New Wolves boss Rob Edwards felt his side played the way he wanted in the final 15 minutes of the opening period. That included scoring their first goal in 540 minutes through Jean-Ricner Bellegarde.

It wasn't the script Amorim envisaged. Certainly not one he wanted on a night when Sir Jim Ratcliffe had come to watch and was pictured in animated conversation with director of football Jason Wilcox in the directors' box. He told his players this before he left to sit in the visitors' dugout alone with his thoughts before United re-appeared for the start of the second half.

"We should have finished that half in the different way," he said. "At half-time, they understood we have everything to win the game. If you need to be really distracted, when you look at Everton, that was three points. We could have had two more points against West Ham. Look at the table. Look at the environment. Look at everything. We needed to win the second half. It didn't matter the result."

Analysing the game for Sky Sports, Jamie Carragher praised the performance but said: "We make the assumption there is a bad result around the corner." He is not on his own with that opinion. United have still kept only one clean sheet in the Premier League, against Sunderland at Old Trafford on 4 October. Are they on one defeat in nine, or two wins in six? After failing to take opportunities to go second, twice, and fifth, they are now sixth.

If results go their way, they could be fourth once they have played Bournemouth on 15 December. Equally they could be back in the bottom half of the table. Andoni Iraola's men have taken two points from their past six games but they have won 3-0 on each of their past two visits to Old Trafford. Nothing is for certain at Manchester United these days it seems, and that includes the availability of their players.

Amorim had thought Netherlands international Matthijs de Ligt would be available for Monday's game after missing the West Ham match with a minor injury. He was wrong. Now the manager says he can't be sure when De Ligt will be fit. United remain in talks with the respective national associations of Morocco, Ivory Coast and Cameroon, which Amorim says is a "good sign" but says he "doesn't know" if Noussair Mazraoui, Amad Diallo and Bryan Mbeumo will be cleared to play against Bournemouth before they leave for Africa Cup of Nations duty. "Let's wait for the middle of the week," said Amorim.

Asked what moving into sixth place means, he added: "Nothing. It's always the same feeling. We should have more points. But that's in the past, let's focus on the future." Mason Mount's goal means he has now scored three times in the past four games he has started. The England star is now beginning to make the sustained impacted envisaged when he moved from Chelsea for £55m in 2023, before injuries halted his progress. It also means Amorim has options given main striker Benjamin Sesko is currently injured and Mbeumo will be leaving at some point in the near future.

"If you compare the past he had in Chelsea, he has a great quality," said Amorim. "He can defend. He can attack and the quality when he touches the ball is really good. It's not a surprise for me. But, of course, we need to take care of him. But he's going to build that and is going to be really important for our club."