Marc Skinner insists Ella Toone AND Jess Park can both fit into Man Utd's XI as Red Devils boss outlines plans for Lionesses duo

The Red Devils brought Park over from the blue side of Manchester in the final hours of the summer transfer window, while sending fellow England star Grace Clinton the other way. At times, Skinner struggled to fit both Toone and Clinton into his starting line-up, with both arguably at their best as No.10s. However, he believes things can be different with this England duo.

Park largely played as a creative midfielder during her time with Man City and it has often been there that she has shone for the Lionesses, too. She can, though, play in a variety of roles, including off both wings or even as a No.9.

Asked about the different threat Park could offer to opponents when playing in the No.10 role instead of Toone this season, Skinner was quick to explain that it doesn't have to be a case of one or the other. "They can play together," he said in his press conference on Wednesday.

"It's not about building walls around these players. It's about giving them a framework where they can then move within, which creates uncertainty for defenders. That's what I want them to do. I don't want them to be rigid because that bores me a little bit. I want to be able to open the fluidity of my team while also having control of structure and counter marking. If we can strike that, [Jess] is the perfect balance for that. It doesn't have to be either or. They can play together, as well as others."

Park made her Man Utd debut in Sunday's 4-0 win over Leicester, replacing Celin Bizet on the right wing for the final half an hour. The next week or so might present the potential for her to play in a more central role though, as the Red Devils have a lot of games coming up and, as such, may look to rest Toone somewhere.

That starts on Thursday, when United travel to Norway to face Brann in the first leg of their final Champions League qualifier. A trip to newly-promoted London City Lionesses follows on Sunday, before the return leg of that Brann clash on September 18. A busy period is closed out three days later, with the hosting of Arsenal.