As Leicester City prepare to travel to Old Trafford in the Carabao Cup, Times football reporter Charlotte Duncker believes the match will be a “new beginning” for Manchester United under interim manager Ruud van Nistelrooy.

Duncker hopes United will respond on Wednesday, in their first game since the sacking of Erik ten Hag.

“Having seen them and covered them, it didn’t seem like the players had necessarily stopped using tools while Erik ten Hag was in charge,” he told BBC Radio Leicester’s When You’re Smiling podcast. “It just seemed like something wasn’t working.

“One of the important things to note is that Ruud van Nistelrooy has been at the club this entire season. He has already been involved in tactical decisions and game planning, so I wouldn’t expect to see a drastically different team. .

“But there’s always the cliché of the ‘new manager bounce’. I fear for Leicester City because, if Ten Hag was still in charge, maybe it would have been a slightly easier game for them.

“The players have been feeling the pressure, but maybe now they feel relieved because the circumstances have changed: Erik ten Hag is gone and this is a new beginning for many of them.

“For example, Marcus Rashford has looked a shadow of his former self in recent games. He simply can’t shoot on target, but the question is whether he will thrive with Ruud van Nistelrooy as his manager rather than his manager.

“It’s hard to see how there could be a drastic recovery, but there’s usually that ‘new manager bounce’, which I know is not what Leicester City fans will want to hear.”

Listen to the full podcast on BBC Sounds