Manchester United's players may have arrived at their pre-match hotel fairly late on Friday night, but that did not stop a crowd of fans waiting to meet their heroes.

The Premier League title chasers stayed at the Lowry Hotel on Friday, before hosting Crystal Palace at Old Trafford in their weekend fixture.

Romelu Lukaku and his team mates arrived to check in on the evening, and seemed happy to stop for the crowds of supporters outside the front doors.

Forwards Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard were photographed taking selfies with a small crowd of excitable young supporters on the hotel steps.

Spanish stars Juan Mata and David de Gea meanwhile dealt with what looked like a father and son who were keen on a more old fashioned souvenir, an autograph.

United regularly stay at the Lowry before home matches, the hotel  famous for being where manager Jose Mourinho has lived since taking over in 2016.

Other players were quick to make their way into the building without being waylaid by fans, Matteo Darmian talking on his phone while Henrikh Mkhitaryan entered with his coat hood up.

Lukaku meanwhile has been the centre of attention once again, with the striker becoming central to United with his goal scoring exploits since joining in the summer.

Mourinho has said the forward will not be rested until Zlatan Ibrahimovic is fit again, having played every minute of the season so far.

He said:  'Look, without Zlatan we cannot rotate the strikers, especially because Marcus Rashford is playing in other positions. So until we have Zlatan, we cannot think about giving rest to our No 9 the same way we give in other positions.'