Erik ten Hag gives encouraging injury update on Man Utd duo ahead of Nottingham Forest clash

Erik ten Hag gave a positive update on the fitness of Luke Shaw and Scott McTominay ahead of Manchester United’s Premier League clash against Nottingham Forest.

The pair both missed the Europa League draw with Sevilla on Thursday night through knocks and, while no specifics have been given on the nature of both problems, neither are expected to be long-term issues. But Ten Hag gave an encouraging update on Friday when asked about the possibility of either returning on Sunday.

“Could be but we have to see and we have two sessions to go,” he responded. “I don’t know by now but it could be that Scott and Luke return to the squad.

Meanwhile, just over 12 hours on from Lisandro Martinez picking up a foot injury, Ten Hag revealed he is still unsure about the severity of the problem. “Sorry no, it’s not even 24 hours I don’t have a complete diagnosis,” he said.

“I can’t say in this moment, when we have news we will give it straight to you. Let’s do the medical, a full assessment, complete diagnosis, it doesn’t change in this moment. I have an idea but I don’t cause speculation.”

With Martinez already ruled out for Sunday and Raphael Varane also expected to miss out after picking up an injury against Sevilla, Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof are likely to start at centre-back on Sunday.

Asked about the prospect of the pair playing, Ten Hag said: “Decent centre-halves, they proved in the past and this season we have four or five very good centre-halves who can do the job.

“We have to adapt in the squad, we have to use the squad, that is also what we did yesterday. You need a tactical approach to win the games, we have good players, suspension, we adapt to the squad.”