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When you cannot win, don't lose - as the proverb states.

Before their visit to Forest, Man Utd had secured merely 8 points from losing positions with their manager. They had failed to secure a single point from the previous six matches when they were losing since the match to AFC Bournemouth last spring, when a last-minute effort snatched a draw.

When they were behind at the stadium after conceding twice in a short span, as Forest reversed a disputed first-half opener, United were facing defeat.

The inquiry to Amorim after his side recovered to draw could not have been more direct.

'If that game occurred last season, do you feel it would have ended in defeat?'

The response was equally decisive.

"Yes, and by a larger margin, that is my feeling."

We can never know the reality. What we do know that Amad Diallo showed why the coach selects him at wing-back by scoring a sensational volleyed strike from near the edge of the penalty area nine minutes from time to secure a point.

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

The determination, the desire, the unwillingness to surrender are intangibles.

In this game, the manager felt his squad showed they have got better at that as well.

"In the past, if we had this kind of bad five minutes and we suffered a couple of goals, we wouldn't bounce back," said the coach. "Today is a different sensation. You can sense we could not win this game but we are determined not to be defeated. And that is a mindset a big team occasionally has to have."

Amorim didn't say it, but the addition of the Brazilian forward and Bryan Mbeumo must have helped.

The attacker is not one to shy away from challenging circumstances, on the contrary indeed. In the opening period, when he was jeered by the home fans for what they believed was his gamesmanship, he responded - rather than ignore it - pointing to the crest on his shorts.

Mbeumo is a constant threat, the epitome of a footballer who will not give an opponent any rest.

Amorim was asked precisely what had caused the mental improvement. Apart from saying the self-belief generated from the previous three consecutive victories, he didn't provide an explanation.

"Our self-belief, of course, is completely different," he stated. "We came from three positive performances and we have a newfound confidence. We understand each other better. We talk more about this.

"We proved this year we can have difficult periods but suddenly, we produce three strong performances.

"We just need to be inside the game until the last moments. In the past, we could have lost everything based on how we performed in the game. Today, the impression was not that one."

Uncertainty Remains Over Prospects of Zirkzee and the midfielder

While this represented a occasion when United showed their resilience, it was also a moment that must have left Joshua Zirkzee and the young midfielder increasingly unsure of their roles in Amorim's new-look Manchester United.

In his pre-match press conference, Amorim stated it was likely players who believe they are at risk of not making the international tournament will request transfers in the winter transfer window.

One can reasonably conclude the striker and Mainoo fit into that bracket. The forward has managed less than two full games from his 4 Premier League substitute appearances this season. For the young player, the total is over two hours from seven.

Neither has started a league match this season and nor were they called upon to be substituted on at the City Ground, as United chased a way back into a game they were losing from the second half.

"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 interrupt something," said the manager. "Our performance was getting better during the later stages, so my instinct was not to change anything with the guys in front."

The midfielder had a deal in place to join the Italian club in the final stages of the summer window but United would not approve a deal. The striker was returning from injury but is currently open to the idea of a return to Italy.

The circumstances is complicated by the loss of Mbeumo and Amad to the continental tournament in the middle of the winter, a time which features a few weekday matches which will require a degree of squad changes unseen before.

As the championship match is on January 18th, the pair should be returned well before the signing period closes on February 2nd - which may mean a delayed outcome than any eager to leave player would prefer.

"It is the characteristics of the game," commented the coach, when questioned directly about Zirkzee and Mainoo. "They know it's temporary.

"It's nothing to do with quality - and we have a lot of fixtures."