Erik ten Hag gives Luke Shaw injury update after Man Utd defender replaced in Aston Villa win

Erik ten Hag has said he replaced Luke Shaw as a ‘precaution’ in Sunday’s 2-1 win over Aston Villa.

The Manchester United defender was withdrawn at half-time in the Villa Park victory with Victor Lindelof coming on his place at left-back. Shaw has only recently returned from an injury lay-off, his second of the season.

The ex-Southampton man missed three months at the start of the season and, after returning to the side in November, also sat out over a month after picking up a fresh knock in the 2-0 defeat to West Ham United on 23 December. Ten Hag admitted Shaw’s injury record was a big factor in him replacing the 28-year-old at half-time on Sunday.

“It was a precaution,” explained the United boss. “Luke Shaw gave some messages about complaints and you know Luke Shaw, with his history, too many injuries.

“We couldn’t go into this risk, even though I knew it was an important game. But then we can’t miss him for six weeks.”

United earned a crucial three points against Villa thanks to Scott McTominay’s late header, the third time this season the Scotland international has came off the bench to score. The win means United close the gap to the Champions League places to just six points, and trail fifth-place Villa by five points.

"We have to catch up and we know we brought ourselves in the situation, but the prizes always get divided at the end of the season. We're in February, many games to play. We are returning but there is still a long way to go. We have to improve our game but we are pleased that we get a series of wins."