Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal said injuries were behind the absences of Marcos Rojo and Jesse Lingard in Saturday's draw at Leicester City.
Neither Rojo nor Lingard made the trip to King Power Stadium after injuries suffered in the Champions League draw against PSV Eindhoven.
Van Gaal said the duo were not fit to face Leicester, who led through the red-hot Jamie Vardy before Bastian Schweinsteiger's headed equaliser in the 1-1 draw.
"I could not play with them. Lingard was a player in good shape so it was a pity," he said.
"Rojo is our left defender and that's also a pity because then I have to put my players in a different shape and different organisation. Because of that, I had to play with three defenders."
Van Gaal also played down injury concerns surrounding Wayne Rooney after the captain came off midway through the second half.
