Everything Erik ten Hag said in his final Manchester United press conference

Erik ten Hag previewed Manchester United's upcoming clash with Leicester in the Carabao Cup before he was sacked as first-team manager at the start of the week.

Following defeat to West Ham in what turned out to be his final match in charge of the club, the Dutchman held an embargoed press conference ahead of the midweek clash with Leicester City.

The very fact Ten Hag went ahead with the press conference highlights just how much of a shock the timing of his dismissal was, while he was also not asked about his immediate future, such was the belief that he wouldn't be sacked after such a controversial defeat.

Here is everything he had to say in his final press conference as United manager:

Do you expect any players back for the match?

“No, I don't think so.”

Luke Shaw has been out for more than two months. Has he had setbacks?

“The process is not going as we expected, that's the truth. The setback, if you want to call it like this, we want also to do it very careful. When he is now dropping again, we want to be very careful. We know his past, we have to do this right, because we want him to be available, because he will have a big impact on our performances and also on our levels. We can't have him playing for some games and then drop out again. So, we will do it very carefully.”

You've won the Carabao Cup before. If you win a trophy this season does it make the season a success?

“Definitely. It is about trophies, I don't want to go into this debate again. There are not so many trophies you can win, if you win a trophy in top football, that is the most important, that is what the fans expect, what we expect - to win a trophy. We have had five opportunities and one we missed, that was the Community Shield. There are still four to go.”

What are you looking for your midfielders to do in your game model?

“My midfielders, I have different types. We have the holding midfielders, we have the box-to-box, we have the 10s - we have four midfielders there, we rotate them. Specific for Manuel Ugarte, most of the time he will be playing as a holding position midfielder. What we expect from him is holding and also linking, building the attack, making the links into the attack, and very important, he is in rest defence and transition. I think every player can do better but I was very happy with his performance in Fenerbahce. That was definitely a step forward.”

How do you think the players will respond to the setback against West Ham?

“We have to do better, that is the ranking. But I will tell them the ranking is not reflecting our performances and our levels. But at the end of the season we have to get this right. It is not easy when you have so many setbacks at the start of the season and to overcome this, but we have to fight back. It will always help when you have a good start because that gives motivation, gives belief, the confidence will grow. We are now in the process on the other side where we are disappointed and we have to deal with setbacks and now we have to find the fuel from setbacks and disappointments.”