Erik ten Hag was pleased to get the “job done” as Manchester United reached the Emirates FA Cup fourth round by defeating Wigan Athletic 2-0 – but he admitted the margin of victory could have been greater.

The Reds were on the front foot from the first whistle at the DW Stadium and produced one of the team’s best attacking displays of the season so far, in terms of the number of chances created for and by the likes of Bruno Fernandes, Alejandro Garnacho, Rasmus Hojlund, Scott McTominay and Marcus Rashford.

Only one opportunity was taken from open play – with an accomplished first-half finish by defender Diogo Dalot – before Fernandes eventually doubled the advantage by converting the penalty he earned by drawing a foul in the area.

“The FA Cup is all about winning. It’s a knockout. If you have to replay [the tie], it’s two games, but you want to finish the job and that’s exactly the words I used in the dressing room: ‘Job done’,” said Ten Hag.

“We created in the first half five or six very good chances. It was, I think, good football and we should have taken more from that, but if you don’t score, you have to stay focused and I think that is also what we did.”

On whether United have a chance to win the Cup, Ten Hag responded: “I think that is too far [away], you have to go from game to game, especially in the cup. So we take that, but now, first, all our focus is on Spurs [in the Premier League], of course.”