Erik ten Hag hints at chances for fringe players with seven out injured

Erik ten Hag says he is “curious” to see how certain players respond to the team’s growing injury list.

Those on the fringes of the squad at Manchester United should be rubbing their hands together at the thought of opportunities to prove themselves in the team.

Unfortunately for the Reds, Rasmus Hojlund has been ruled out for between two and three weeks with a muscular injury which means United will be without a senior striker for the match against Fulham. Luke Shaw was handed another setback earlier this week and will miss the remainder of the season.

“It’s a small injury, two or three weeks,” Ten Hag told reporters when asked about Hojlund’s fitness, as quoted by the Manchester Evening News. “That’s what happened, that is the risk playing high intensity, training, it’s not a big injury but he has to wait now for two-three weeks.

“Of course that is an issue but other clubs have this and we have to deal with this and I now have the feeling we can deal with it better than in the autumn. But still it’s an issue – the depth of the squad now.

“All the players will get the opportunity to show their qualities. Of course, we are very curious and we have the confidence they can because that’s why we constructed the squad when we went into the January window.

“We saw players are developing, progressing, who didn’t have the chance in the first half of the season or they were injured. But now they will get opportunities and now it’s about them to fit into the team and contribute.”

Meanwhile, Aaron Wan-Bissaka is out until next month and we are still without former Chelsea midfielder Mason Mount. Another player on the missing list is Anthony Martial, while Lisandro Martinez is out until April and Tyrell Malacia hasn’t been seen all season.

The absentees should grant some of the fringe players more game time as we’ve seen Omari Forson added to the senior squad in recent weeks, with the club keen to tie the youngster down to a new deal.

Hojlund’s absence will raise questions about who leads the line on Saturday. Marcus Rashford could move to the centre forward role or we may see Scott McTominay start up front.

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