Every word from Erik ten Hag ahead of Man United’s second leg Carabao Cup clash against Nottingham Forest

Erik ten Hag spoke to the media ahead of Manchester United’s semi-final clash against Nottingham Forest in the Carabao Cup at Old Trafford.

The Reds are in a comfortable position going into the second leg of the tie after winning 3-0 at The City Ground last week.

Newcastle United progressed to the final after their win against Southampton on Tuesday evening and United will be expected to meet them at Wembley next month.

Ten Hag conducted his press conference on deadline day after it was confirmed by the club that Christian Eriksen will be injured for an extended period. As expected there were questions about the Dane before the signing of Marcel Sabitzer was announced.

He was also asked about several other topics such as the opposition and the reckless challenge that caused Eriksen’s ankle injury.

Christian Eriksen’s injury is a massive blow, isn’t it? “Of course, he is disappointed about [it], we are disappointed about [it]. It happens in top football, you have to deal with it.”

How can you fill that gap? “I think you can never fill that because every player has their own characteristics and identity, so another player will always fill it in in a different way. So, it doesn’t mean that you have to be less successful but it’s quite clear that Christian Eriksen, for our squad, brings top quality and he has some specifics that are hard to replace. For instance, his impact in the final third, [with his] final ball.”

Will it impact United’s success this season? “It’s of course a concern. These are things you have to deal with as you can do nothing about it. You can set the squad and in January of course we also had Donny [van de Beek] who has dropped out for the rest of the season. Christian Eriksen is now out for the coming part of the season and then also Scott McTominay is not available I think also for the coming week, two weeks, maybe even longer. That means that we have a challenge there and the squad has a challenge. We also have quality players there. This is obvious, but the depth is not that good anymore. We as a team have to deal with that.”

Can Fred raise his game to help replace him? “He’s playing together with Casemiro in the Brazilian squad, I would say that’s not the worst squad in the world. They have so many choices that they can make but they often prefer to play them together. So, that tells something about the quality Fred has and what he can contribute to the team. He has done it several times with his performance for instance against Tottenham Hotspur, for instance against Manchester City. When he’s coming on [in the] last game [against Reading], he’s scoring a goal straight away. He has a lot of qualities. I think they are a really good combination, Casemiro and Fred.”

How about Lisandro Martinez, can he move into midfield if needed? “He did it before [for Ajax]. This is also one thing that me as a manager, you have to be creative in certain situations when in other departments you have players who can’t be starting XI players, because I can only play one player in that position, maybe we can move the departments and be creative to form the team.”

What were your thoughts on the tackle on Christian Eriksen from Andy Carroll and the fact he wasn’t even booked for it? “I am disappointed about that. I think football has to set limits and restrictions so that you protect the players. I think what football wants is the best players to be available on the pitch and this is a tackle, and the two tackles after it, they don’t belong on the football pitch, because it’s high risk to injure your colleague, it is worse. I wondered about that for instance at Crystal Palace where there was an elbow on [Lisandro] Martinez and I don’t even know if there was a whistle for a free-kick. But no one is interfering. I’m wondering about such things because it’s a risk of injury for the player.”

Thoughts on Chelsea’s transfer window activity? “I can’t talk for other clubs, I’m talking for our club. We have a strategy and so we keep that strategy where we want to go. We want to restore Manchester United where they belong. We are in a good direction, also it has to match our financial frames, so we started in the season, and we keep consistent to that plan and strategy. I think we’re developing as a club, we’re developing as a squad in the way of play and I think you can see also the results in the process, we make the right progress. So, we have to keep that process going and keep improving every day.”

How impressed are you with Aaron Wan-Bissaka and are you expected to start playing more direct to Wout Weghorst? “Yes, definitely. Aaron, he was so often ill or injured at the start of the season, so he wasn’t in the right spirit to contribute, a lot of drop-outs. Then in the restart, he was available, and he got used to our way of play, what we introduced, and I think he made a good development, a good progress. I think you see him growing game by game and I’m happy. What I think was quite well in the last games was the connection between Aaron and Antony was much better. Then you see much more difficulties for the opponent. Then we have to work on that we have even more bodies there, occupation around them so they have more opportunities to play. To Wout, I think Wout is integrating really well. He is just doing what I expected him to do, routine has to come, but the more you play together, the more it will come. So, I expect even better performances from him.”

Against Forest, will you still play a strong team? “It’s good that you make that question. We are talking about Forest here but I don’t hear one question about it! A good question. We are here playing a semi-final and we have a perfect chance to go to Wembley, to bring a trophy in. Therefore, we have to focus and therefore we have to gather the energy and gather the good game plan for tomorrow and I think it is all about that. You have to do it with the players who are available and that is a strong team that will come on tomorrow and I think we are in momentum, we are in good process and we have to keep that going from the momentum and we want to develop this team further on. Tomorrow we want to take the next step and we are approaching a real good team. The games before with Forest, they are in a really good run and we have to be aware of that. Forest have a good team, they have a real good depth in that squad and from that they can bring a good team and they can do things different. We have to be prepared for that and it is all about that.”