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Erik ten Hag says it could take “weeks” for Casemiro and Lisandro Martinez to be ready to play for Manchester United again.
Speaking at the pre-match press conference ahead of tomorrow’s FA Cup tie against Wigan Athletic, the manager was first asked about Rasmus Hojlund, who missed the Nottingham Forest game with illness.
“No, he will return,” he said.
“He dropped out shortly before the [Forest] game, he was unwell for that game. The day before we expected him to play, but he dropped out shortly before the game. He is now back in training.”
Casemiro and Lisandro Martinez have both returned to full training but Ten Hag confirmed that they will not be available for tomorrow.
“They are a long time now back on the grass already, but now they have returned to team training. Not fully but partial and now they have to make the next steps that of course takes some days, I think even weeks,” he said.
The manager was also asked about what went wrong for Donny van de Beek at United. The player has just completed a six-month loan move to Eintracht Frankfurt.
“From the moment I came here at Man United, he wasn’t the player I had at Ajax because he was injured and so many times he was unavailable,” Ten Hag explained.
“Then he struggled for a long time with recovering from that injury. So I think that is probably the main reason for why he wasn’t playing.
“Then we decided on a loan in the summer and nothing came, then his opportunities were so few because also we made appointments and agreements with players and there was conflict in those positions, the competition was high.”
Ten Hag also went into more detail about his impressions of INEOS, who will be taking over football operations at the club.
“From my talks [with INEOS] I had a fantastic feeling after it. How their personalities and ideas affect the process they want to go in. So I am very positive about that and I am sure it will be beneficial to Manchester United.”
The Dutchman was asked what he felt about players not wanting to risk their careers by playing for United.
“That is always on the players and what [kind of] confidence you have. Your capabilities,” he replied.
“I can tell you one thing and that is that the Premier League is tough and at Man United it is tough to play here, because in every other team it is easier to play there because there is less pressure. It is so high and you have to deal with that.
“But if you have confidence in yourself, than I think this is the best challenge. Definitely it is the best club you want to be at and that depends from player to player, it is also about the character. The personality of the player.”
One reporter asked how important tomorrow’s game is, given that the FA Cup is the only trophy United have left to fight for.
“We still have the Premier League, so we have two trophies to play for. We will play for the Premier League and for the FA Cup,” the boss replied.
On tomorrow’s opponents, he said:
“We will face an opponent who is 100 percent [ready] and will give more than 100 percent, as every opponent is going more than 100 percent against Manchester United. But especially this time and we have to be well prepared for the game.”
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