Erik ten Hag gives promising fitness update on three Man Utd players ahead of Bournemouth clash

The Manchester United manager is hopeful three recent absentees will be back in time for the first game of 2023.
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Erik ten Hag has given an encouraging update on the fitness of Lisandro Martinez, Diogo Dalot and Scott McTominay.

The trio all missed last week’s wins over Nottingham Forest and Wolverhampton Wanderers, while Martinez and Dalot have not played for Manchester United since the World Cup break. Speaking ahead of Tuesday’s clash with Bournemouth, Ten Hag said Martinez and McTominay could be involved at Old Trafford in midweek, but admitted he is not rushing Dalot back following a hamstring injury.

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“We have to see, both [Martinez and McTominay] were training yesterday and today [Saturday], so I am quite optimistic that both can return to the squad,” the Dutchman told reporters in his pre-match press conference, held at Molineux after Saturday’s 1-0 win over Wolves. “Diogo Dalot as well, he also makes good progress. But we don’t want to take risks with anyone because there are many games to come and we need a good squad to cover all the games.”

Ten Hag also has a choice to make at centre-back with Martinez potentially back, and Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof fit again following recent illnesses. The latter two were also options at the weekend against Wolves, yet United played Luke Shaw at centre-back alongside Raphael Varane.

Ten Hag was asked about that decision and whether Shaw could be expected to continue playing at the heart of defence. “You have your plans but sometimes that changes due to circumstances, like with the illnesses to Harry and Victor,” Ten Hag explained.

“Normally they should have started in the games we played, but Casemiro did well as a centre-half [against Burnley], Luke Shaw did well against Forest. Looking at the game plan for Wolves, I thought it was the best approach with Rapha and with Luke, especially also defending. We know the speed of Wolves over the right side and he could cover that because we wanted to attack over the left side with an offensive game from Tyrell Malacia. So that was a good fit and with a left foot you get better angles for passing.

“We have seen the last two games he was fabulous and impressed,” Ten Hag added. “But we know also that he is really good as a left full-back. It’s an extra option and it is always good for a team.”