Jamie Carragher has dismissed Erik ten Hag's claim ahead of Manchester United's clash with Aston Villa that Matthijs de Ligt and Lisandro Martinez were left out of the starting lineup due to "rotation".

Ten Hag claim after the midweek draw with Porto in the Europa League that Marcus Rashford was hooked half-time because "we have to rotate" raised eyebrows after the United forward opened the scoring in the 3-3 draw.

And the veracity of the United manager's latest "rotation" claim has been rubbished by Carragher.

Asked about De Ligt and Martinez's absences from the starting lineup, Ten Hag responded: "It's just rotation. We've so much games to cover, so we have to bring them all in."

Carragher, though, was having none of it, insisting on commentary: "You don't rotate centre-backs. They've been dropped."

United legend Rio Ferdinand also appeared to doubt Ten Hag's claim, posting cryptically on X: '"Rotation"'.

Ten Hag is under significant pressure at United with his side winning just two of their opening six Premier League games of the season, and ahead of club chiefs meeting on Tuesday to discuss his future at the club, many believe defeat at Aston Villa may spell the end of his tenure.

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Red Devils co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe - in attendance at Villa Park - refused to be drawn on Ten Hag's future ahead of the game.

Asked whether he is still convinced Ten Hag is the manager to take the club forward, Ratcliffe told BBC Sport: "I don't want to answer that question...I like Erik. I think he's a very good coach but at the end of the day it's not my call, it's the management team that's running Manchester United that have to decide how we best run the team in many different respects," added Ratcliffe, who has been in Barcelona for the Americas Cup.

"But that team that's running Manchester United has only been together since June or July. They weren't there in January, February, March or April - [CEO] Omar [Berrada], [Sporting Director] Dan Ashworth - they only arrived in July

"They've only been there...you can count it in weeks almost - they've not been there a long time so they need to take stock and make some sensible decisions. Our objective is very clear - we want to take Manchester United back to where it should be, and it's not there yet, obviously - that's very clear."

Results and performances aside, a report suggests the United bosses are also concerned by Ten Hag's management of two players in particular, and also want the Dutchman to 'change his attitude' in order to take the club forward.