Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has clarified he is playing Diogo Dalot at left back due to the team’s patterns.

Right back Dalot has started all but one of United’s ten games this season at left back while summer signing Noussair Mazraoui has lined up on the opposite side.

United have been devoid of specialist left backs Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia for almost the entirety of the calendar year. Shaw played five games in January and February but has not made a club appearance since in nearly eight months due to hamstring and calf injuries.

Seventeen-year-old left back Harry Amass excelled on the pre-season tour of the United States but is yet to make his career debut and has not been included in any of United’s matchday squads this term.

Mazraoui is capable of playing at left back but Ten Hag only started him there on two occasions when they worked together for four-and-a-half years at Ajax.

“I think they (Mazraoui and Dalot) can both play [at left back]. But for the patterns, I prefer this moment to Diogo,” Ten Hag said. “But both, of course, are right full backs.

“And that is another area where we have a personal issue and already for a long time we have a personal issue there. So definitely we will improve as a team when we get a consistent left-footed left full back.

“We are waiting for Luke Shaw, we are waiting for Tyrell Malacia to return in the squad because that will definitely help with consistent performance levels.”

United head to Aston Villa on Sunday for their final fixture before the October internationals with speculation mounting that defeat could signal the end of Ten Hag’s tenure.

Harry Maguire’s 91st-minute header secured a dramatic 3-3 draw against Porto in the Europa League but United collapsed from 2-0 up to go 3-2 down in another performance that failed to reduce the pressure on their manager.

“We have to improve, for sure,” Ten Hag acknowledged. “But also, we can say we are very disciplined. For instance, in the first 25 minutes (against Porto) in our positioning and how we created the chances in the right moment. We speeded up the game.

“So I would not only address it as undisciplined, but definitely we can improve. And we have to improve if we want to make it a success. And we can only achieve, like last two seasons, win trophies, when we improve. So yeah, we will work on this, definitely.”