Erik ten Hag provides major injury update on defensive duo after late scare

Erik ten Hag has provided an update on the fitness of Lisandro Martinez and Matthijs de Ligt after Manchester United’s win on Saturday.

After a rocky start to their Premier League campaign which saw them lose to Liverpool just before the international break, the Red Devils have gotten themselves back on track with a statement win against the newly promoted Southampton.

Andre Onana played a huge part in the victory with his penalty save from Cameron Archer being the catalyst to the opening goal, with De Jigt heading home from a Bruno Fernandes cross just minutes later.

The lead was then doubled by Marcus Rashford who squeezed his long-range strike just inside Aaron Ramsdale’s far post before the break.

Alejandro Garnacho put the cherry on top when he rifled the ball into the roof of the net in the 96th minute, sealing the victory for the Red Devils.

But it’s not all positive for Ten Hag who was forced to take off both of his central defenders, De Ligt and Martinez late in the second-half.

Speaking after the game, the Dutch manager revealed that the internationals in the week played a big part in his decision and that both players would be assessed over the coming day.

“We had internationals early in the season, some are short in the pre-season, some come from intercontinental flights then when you have a 12:30 kick-off, you can struggle,” he said in his post-match interview via the Standard.

“Hopefully it’s nothing serious and we have to assess today and tomorrow.”

Manchester United fans will be praying that both players are fit for their Premier League clash against Crystal Palace next weekend with injuries to their defence the main reason why they struggled so much during their last campaign.

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