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6 months ago
34 Manchester United have been given a slight boost ahead of the FA Cup final with trio Mason Mount, Anthony Martial and Victor Lindelof returning to first-team training this week.
The final takes place in three days, so Erik ten Hag and his squad haven’t got a lot of time to prepare for the biggest game of the season.
United concluded their underwhelming Premier League campaign with a 2-0 win over Brighton on Sunday. It won’t change the fact Man City are be going to Wembley as favourites, but that’s surely something the Reds must deal with on the pitch.
The return of certain players to training will come as a slight boost. United confirmed on Wednesday that Mount, Martial and Lindelof had returned to training.
Manchester United players training ahead of FA Cup final
Argentina 🇦🇷#MUFC || #FACup pic.twitter.com/iE24WFylvd
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) May 22, 2024
Happy camp! 😃👍#MUFC || #FACup pic.twitter.com/obQIP4ZDo4
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) May 22, 2024
Mount, who hasn’t enjoyed the best of debut seasons, has not featured for United since the 4-0 defeat at Crystal Palace earlier this month.
It’s a plus that United could now have Lindelof available for the cup final. An additional centre-back means a closer step away from Casemiro and Jonny Evans forming a combination in the heart of defence that would have City licking their lips.
However, with Martial, I have firmly given up hope with him. Half of me wishes the underwhelming French forward has played his final game for United, but the other half wouldn’t mind seeing him net the winner against City on Saturday.
Martial hasn’t played for United since the 3-0 defeat to Bournemouth at Old Trafford in December.
It also bodes well that Raphael Varane, Brno Fernandes, Martinez and Marcus Rashford made comebacks in recent weeks.
In another update earlier this afternoon, Harry Maguire admitted he’s ‘touch and go’ for the final, but is hopeful of making the matchday squad.
Like Maguire, Luke Shaw has been called up to the latest England squad but is likely to miss the match.
Ten Hag will speak to the press on Thursday afternoon with a full update on his team.
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