Erik ten Hag reveals latest on two Man United players ahead of Everton FA Cup clash

Erik ten Hag has given the latest updates on the fitness of Anthony Martial and Donny van de Beek ahead of Manchester United’s FA Cup clash against Everton.

The third-round fixture will take place at 20:00 GMT on Friday evening and United will hope to make it seven wins in a row ahead of tough games against Manchester City and Arsenal later in the month.

Their latest victory came against Bournemouth in the Premier League, where goals from Casemiro, Luke Shaw and Marcus Rashford ensured a comfortable evening for The Reds.

However, in that match, both Martial and Van de Beek were withdrawn due to injuries, with the latter’s looking like it could be a serious knee problem.

“Not yet,” the manager told club reporters when asked about if he knows the severity of Van de Beek’s injury. “We are still doing investigations. Once we have it, once we finalise this process, we will bring an update.”

In the Frenchman’s case, the latest updates are positive from the manager. But he is not willing to rush back his only recognised centre-forward.

“He’s available [vs Everton] but it’s different,” added Ten Hag. “He came off [vs Bournemouth] but he didn’t play that much in the first half of the season so we have to bring him slowly back into 90 minutes.

“He can play 90 minutes but [if we’re playing him] in a row of games we have to protect him so he can have the strength, the power to deliver over 90 minutes, every third day.”

The manager also showed this kind of hesitation to bring Diogo Dalot back into the side. He wants a fully fit squad as they enter a busy stage of the season and that means rotation will be key.

“We have so many games to cover. Sometimes we will rotate but also have a look at the opponents we will face. Tactical-wise, we can pick teams but we definitely also look to the physical and mental load for the players in the squad and the games we have to face.”