Manchester United star Christian Eriksen admits he was “sad” by the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo but insisted that the club can push on without one of the biggest names in their history.

“We are sad that Ronaldo is not part of it,” said Eriksen following United’s 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest on Tuesday, their first match since the controversial departure of the Portuguese star.

“His legacy and his name at any club is special. For me to be fortunate to play with him in my career was very nice.”

Ronaldo’s second time at Old Trafford was full of ups and downs, but it ended during the World Cup break when he gave an explosive interview in which he criticized the club’s new manager Erik ten Hag and its owners.

Since the Dutch coach took over at the beginning of the season, his influence on the field had already been decreasing.

And it didn’t seem like United missed him on Tuesday, when goals from Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial, and Fred helped them beat Forest and move closer to the top four.

“The football goes on,” said Eriksen. “You feel that the next game after, people will forget what it was like before and now our focus is really like he (Ronaldo) is not here.”

The Denmark midfielder added: “The atmosphere is good, we have a lot of people coming back from the World Cup, the last guys are coming back and everyone is coming together.”

Rashford has now scored eight goals in 13 games for both his club and his country. Eriksen is happy that Rashford, who is now 25, has kept up the form he showed for England at the World Cup.

“He played very well. Luckily I haven’t been on the pitch where he has played a bad game yet,” said Eriksen, with the Red Devils now just a point off a Champions League spot and a game in hand over fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur.

“He is looking sharp and confident and you can feel that when he is going forward.

“You feel that in the stadium and you feel that with him. It is a nice thing and I hope he keeps it going.

“You can see that he came back pretty confident. I didn’t see much of his games, of course, but he came back in good shape and luckily he has taken that into United.”

Photo by EPA/Peter Powell