Ten Hag praises Hojlund's ability to stay calm after Hatters double

Erik ten Hag praised the character of Rasmus Hojlund after the Dane scored twice in the first seven minutes to help Manchester United beat Luton 2-1.

After a slow beginning to his career at Old Trafford, the striker — signed from Atalanta for £72million — has now scored in six consecutive games to make it 13 goals in his first 30 outings for United.

With United stretching their winning run in the league to four games to keep the pressure on Aston Villa and Tottenham in the top-four race, Ten Hag picked out Hojlund, 21, for praise.

Ten Hag said: "We are very happy with our recruitment, that we recruited the right character because he can perform under stress. 

"And when things go against him like in the first half of the season, he has the abilities to have a strong character, to be resilient, to be determined and score goals and that is what we saw when we scouted him.

"Of course, he needed some support because it's not so easy when you’re so young but, in general, he kept calm and you see his abilities."

It took Hojlund until Boxing Day to net his first league goal for United, scoring the late winner in a 3-2 comeback victory against Villa at Old Trafford.

Previously his only goals had come in the Champions League as the team crashed out of Europe before Christmas in last place in a tame group.

Ten Hag added: "In the start he didn't have so much luck. He scored some goals, for instance, the one against Brighton, his first game, and they disallowed it and no one still knows why.

"There are moments that are very important in a new club and a new league, especially for a striker to build some confidence. 

"That was not given but you see he is a fighter, he keeps going and he has great abilities in front of the goal.

"There are many ranges, areas, where he can improve but he has scoring abilities, that is clear. 

"But what we have seen since September is he is improving in many other areas like holding up the ball."