Adnan Januzaj helped his case to regain his place at Manchester United by helping their under-21 side beat Sunderland on Monday.
The Belgium international got valuable match practise as a goal from captain James Weir secured United a 1-0 victory.
Januzaj was prominent, and twice came close to scoring from corners as he attempted to earn a place in Louis van Gaal's starting XI at Derby on Friday.
The winger came on as a late substitute in Saturday's 1-0 defeat to Southampton, conceding the free kick that led to Charlie Austin's winner.
It was his first United appearance since August after his loan spell at Borussia Dortmund was terminated by mutual consent.
He failed to make a start in the Bundesliga after moving to Germany at the end of the summer transfer window.
Will Keane, who had scored twice in his previous two under-21 games after returning from a loan spell at Preston, began in attack.
Guillermo Varela and Andreas Pereira, both unused substitutes against Saints, also started for Warren Joyce's team.