Jose Mourinho has admitted he told his Manchester United stars to take it easy on Burton at half-time during their Carabao Cup tie last night.
United went on to register a 4-1 win over the Championship side to progress into the fourth round of the Carabao Cup, where they will face Swansea at the Liberty Stadium.
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But it could have been a whole lot worse for Nigel Clough's side after Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard gave United a 3-0 lead after just 36 minutes.
"When we arrive at half-time with the 3-0, from that moment it is just to let it go and finish as soon as possible," Mourinho said, as reported by the Express.
The Red Devils looked menacing every time they ventured forward with Burton unable to cope with the pace of United's attack.
But they took their foot off the gas in the second half with Martial adding a fourth on the 60th minute before Lloyd Dyer scored a consolation goal in stoppage time.
Burton in the process became the first away team in the process to score a goal at Old Trafford this season.
It is the fourth time in just seven games United have scored four goals in a game, following 4-0 wins over Everton, West Ham and Swansea.
However, Mourinho admitted he told his players to take it easy on their cup opponents during the interval as he didn't want to embarrass Burton.
"I just want to win the game," Mourinho told Talksport.
"The objective is not a big result – a humiliation to a great opponent that is his and will be fighting hard in the Championship.
"So we just want to win it, and while the result was open we did it in a strong way."
The United manager admitted he wanted to win the competition for a fifth time.
"In my case I've won it four [times] with two different clubs. If I can win it for a fifth time, there is space for one more."
