Ole Gunnar Solskjaer applauded sharp-shooter Scott McTominay after he climbed off the bench to fire Manchester United into the FA Cup quarter-finals.
The midfielder netted an extra-timer winner to finally break West Ham’s resolve and send the Red Devils into the last eight.
However, boss Solskjaer revealed the Scotland international, who came through the ranks at United, used to ply his trade further up the field.
He told BBC Sport: “Scott used to be a striker and I think he finishes with authority.
“You see that he doesn’t mind being in those positions. He just smashed the ball into the net.”
West Ham rarely threatened but United had to wait until extra time to find a breakthrough.
“I felt we dominated. I thought we were in complete control of the first half,” Solskjaer added.
“In the second half it became more of a game. When it’s only one nil and we are wasteful, anything can happen to us – we knew that from the last game [ Everton ].
“It’s just about finishing the game off but we’re through. We’re in the hat and that’s what we wanted.
“I think we got about 15 to 17 shots in the end but we need to be more clinical. We should’ve finished the game off earlier and finished in 90 minutes but sometimes it doesn’t happen.
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“We needed to have a good result and a good feeling after today because we were low after Everton game. It’s hard to take but they were really focused and did the job.
“Of course you want to win every game. We want to challenge and we want to go to the final. That’s what we’re here at Man United for. Sometimes you’re lucky with draw in the cup – we haven’t been that lucky – but obviously we move another step closer to the final.”