Erik ten Hag provides latest Anthony Martial injury update ahead of Man United’s clash vs Southampton

Erik ten Hag has explained that he will remain cautious with Anthony Martial’s return to action despite being in Manchester United training for a number of days.

The Frenchman has not started a game since the 14th of January when he was brought off at half-time against Manchester City. His last appearance came at the beginning of February against Nottingham Forest.

With only 14 appearances across the season so far and only eight of those coming as a starter, Martial has been plagued with injuries this season. Ahead of their Premier League encounter against Southampton, United remain cautious about his return.

It seemed like a great opportunity for him to reset his Old Trafford career under the management of Ten Hag. You only have to look at the form Marcus Rashford is finding to see an example.

Martial is now closing in on a return to action after numerous setbacks, however, the Dutch manager does not want to take any risks in regard to his recovery.

“Yeah, I think we had a good plan and it worked, not always good, but yeah, he’s on his way back,” explained Ten Hag.

“He’s back in training, but we will be cautious yeah.”

After taking a similar approach with Raphael Varane in pre-season, where the defender was on a strict routine and rarely playing minutes on the tour, Ten Hag could be looking to adopt this recovery plan for the striker.

He was back in first-team training earlier this week and has been at Carrington with individual coaches for over a week.

In Martial’s absence, Wout Weghorst has started every game since he joined the club on loan in January.

The six-foot-six inches forward has scored just twice since coming to Old Trafford, with the latest coming against Real Betis. Despite his goalscoring struggles, the Dutch manager is valuing his fellow countryman’s work whilst his ideal striker remains unavailable.

“He’s capable, physically capable to play a lot of games,” said Ten Hag when asked about Weghorst starting 15 games in a row. “He’s a very fit player and recovers very good.

“Did I expect [him to play so much]? I expected that he’d play a lot but obviously we have an injury with Anthony Martial, so that’s the main reason he’s playing every game from start to almost finish.

“I think he’s doing well as a striker or a number 10 in the midfield. I think he has intelligence from positions, very good anticipation, linking up and getting in front of the goal. In the defending part, he’s also very good in it.”

Watch the entire press conference from Ten Hag on Beaneyman’s YouTube channel below: