Team news boost and Mason Mount test - What Erik ten Hag said in Manchester United vs Chelsea press conference

Manchester United will be in need of a huge improvement when they travel to face Chelsea in the Premier League tomorrow night.

Erik ten Hag’s side were poor during their 1-1 draw with Brentford last weekend and know that they must raise the standards against an equally unpredictable Chelsea side.

There is at least some good news for United ahead of the match, with Raphael Varane, Jonny Evans and Harry Maguire all in training ahead of the trip to Stamford Bridge. There have not been any fresh injury concerns since the club confirmed Lisandro Martinez and Victor Lindelof would both be missing for the next month.

Ten Hag also issued an update on Mason Mount as he prepares to return to the club that sold him last summer. He scored from the bench at Brentford and will be eager to build upon his positive momentum at Stamford Bridge.

Here is a look at everything the United manager had to say in his latest press conference:

Team news

“No more issues, we don't need. On the frontline and midfield we are okay and we have options there but in the backline we have a lack of options but the good thing is back in training this afternoon is Raphael Varane and Jonny Evans. Yesterday Harry Maguire was back in training.”

Why have there been so many muscle injuries?

“We have an idea but we will work on it. Internally, we will deal with it.”

Want to share the idea?

“No.”

Why did performance drop against Brentford?

“I am long enough in football to know and some of you should also understand why such things happen. Sometimes you are not playing good but we are Manchester United, you have to win and you cannot give it away like we did, that was the biggest disappointment for me. We keep going.”

How do you handle the players?

“It depends on the situation you are in as a team, also how the players see it, how they express it on the pitch, then you take a strategy, how to handle this.”

All teams suffer from injuries

“You can't prevent, it's not only us who've had this, the standards of the Premier League from an intensity perspective are so high, the overload of the schedule, international football is so huge, we have internationals in our squad. City, Liverpool and Newcastle have problems, many other teams. In this moment, especially the defensive department but the midfield and frontline the players are available.”

Has schedule forced training changes?

“We don't train because we recover then you go up to the next game.”

What must Mount do to start?

“He's a fantastic football player but it's important first that he is getting and keeping fit because he has had three injuries. Like with Licha, another injury, you want to avoid and we have to do this carefully. The first objective is to keep him fit. that he can benefit and contribute to the team like he did on Saturday when he had a big impact.”

Surprised by where Chelsea are in table?

“It's a tough competition, it's very tight and also a lot about which players are available and not. When you are on the right side of the line you can have a successful season but when on the wrong side you can have a much more difficult season. For the rest they have a fantastic team, fantastic players and play very good football, they can beat anyone and have shown in this league.”