Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim has confirmed rotation is the thinking behind his decision to make three changes for this afternoon's clash with Brighton at Old Trafford.

The Portuguese chief has recalled Harry Maguire, Diogo Dalot and Joshua Zirkzee to the starting XI, replacing Lisandro Martinez, Alejandro Garnacho and Rasmus Hojlund.

Maguire and Zirkzee made positive contributions after stepping off the bench in the second half of Thursday night's 3-1 win over Southampton while Dalot missed out through suspension. The latter has immediately been reinstated to the XI and is expected to start at left wing-back.

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Playing for a second time in less than 72 hours, Amorim has said that he has no choice but to rotate some players in order to avoid unwanted injury issues.

Asked if rotation was behind his team selection, Amorim told MUTV: "Yes. It is impossible to be prepared for every game here without rotating the players. If not, we are going to get injuries and then it is worse than rotating players.

"We need to have a squad that is prepared to rotate to understand the game and to fight to win every game."

Zirkzee is a worthy starter after his contributions from the bench against Southampton, and Amorim has said he has displayed everything that needs to be on show to earn a starting berth.

He added: "Of course. It is everything: the tactical aspect, the technical aspect, the physical aspect. If you show that in training and in games, you have the opportunity to start the games.

"Josh did a good job and today he is going to start."