United captain Sol Bamba insists he fully understood why he wasn’t handed an immediate return to the starting line-up on Saturday, saying "I take nothing for granted".

Bamba missed last week’s 1-0 victory over Cardiff City due to suspension and his defensive replacement that night, Giuseppe Bellusci, maintained his place in the team for the Yorkshire derby at Huddersfield Town four days later – a reward for his fine display alongside Liam Cooper.

Bamba was named among the substitutes at the John Smith’s Stadium on Saturday, but the centre-back was called into action sooner than expected as Cooper was forced off on a stretcher following a clash of heads with team-mate Scott Wootton inside the first half.

The Ivory Coast international had been ever-present in the Championship this season prior to his suspension, but Bamba insisted: “No-one is bigger than the club.

“It was a good performance and a clean sheet against Cardiff and the gaffer made that decision.

“I just have to get on with it and when I get a chance, like I did on Saturday, I just have to perform and keep my place.

“I take nothing for granted. The most important thing is the team and that we won the game.”

Bamba is now preparing for Friday’s friendly away to Wycombe Wanderers, and he believes the gap in the domestic calendar has come at the ideal time for new head coach Steve Evans to work on implementing his methods with the players.

“It’s good we’re going into an international break because the gaffer only came in a few weeks ago,” he said.

“We’re going to have more time to work on what we need to do defensively and everything else to get ready for the big game at home against Rotherham.”

On Alex Mowatt’s match-winner at Huddersfield, Bamba added: “We saw it last week and we see it week in, week out in training. We know he’s got that in his locker.

“We’re happy that it was the third goal and it was game over for us.”