Manchester United head coach Erik ten Hag has lavished praise on his players for their attitude in Thursday's EFL Cup third-round contest with Aston Villa at Old Trafford.

Villa twice led in Manchester, with Ollie Watkins making it 1-0 in the 48th minute, before an own goal from Diogo Dalot saw Unai Emery's side go 2-1 ahead 30 minutes from time.

Man United scored three times without reply in the final 23 minutes through Marcus Rashford, Bruno Fernandes and Scott McTominay, though, to book their spot in the fourth round of the competition courtesy of a 4-2 victory.

Ten Hag has said that he was "really proud" of his players for their attitude to falling behind on Thursday.

"Two halves are never the same, eh? But it is true, I will say, in the first half, we controlled the game, by good pressing and we won a lot of balls in the opponents' half, but we just did the wrong things," Ten Hag told Sky Sports News in his post-game interview.

© Reuters

"We were really bad in transition, missing the pass and the runs in behind. We would pass the ball one step too late. So we missed a lot of opportunities in the first half and in the last part, in the last seven-eight minutes we were really sloppy on the ball and from the corners against us.

"At half-time, we said keep the pressing, but be more direct with the balls in behind their defence. Then we came back, kept the ball and fought back. I am really proud of the team after Sunday's defeat and after two times we were behind. I am happy tonight.''

Man United now have just one more game before the season breaks for the World Cup, travelling to Fulham in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon.

Ten Hag has said the management team will use the upcoming break to "analyse" and "reflect" on how the Red Devils have performed in the opening months of the 2022-23 campaign.

''I think that is what we continue to do. Analyse, reflect on our performance, but, of course, we have a little bit more time, which allows us to get a little bit deeper into stuff," he added.

© Reuters

"That is what we will do and we will look at where we can improve. We will have a good reflection on where we can improve [But, first, Fulham] and every game is to win is really important but it's clear, yeah. Part one [tonight] was revenge for Sunday but part two has to come."

Meanwhile, in an interview with MUTV, Ten Hag detailed the importance of having Anthony Martial back from injury, especially with Antony and Jadon Sancho still on the sidelines.

"Definitely [good to have Martial back]. We have some offensive problems with availability and we need more players available so we can rotate and not always play the same players," said the Dutchman.

"We have to freshen now and again. You see tonight when we bring [Alejandro] Garnacho on, we can bring Anthony Elanga in, with new energies coming up. We need that if we want to be successful, especially in the front line, we need rotation."

Man United will take on Burnley in the fourth round of the EFL Cup, with the match scheduled to take place on the week commencing December 19.