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Erik ten Hag says Matthijs de Ligt, Lisandro Martinez and Noussair Mazraoui are all available for the Carabao Cup tie vs Barnsley tomorrow despite coming off against Southampton on Saturday. Luke Shaw, Rasmus Hojlund and Mason Mount are still out.
“They are all available [Noussair Mazraoui, Matthijs de Ligt and Lisandro Martinez]. They are good,” the boss said.
As for Shaw, he noted that “He’s progressing but not yet ready to be selected.
“He is progressing well, of course we have a plan in our head when he can be ready but you’re always dependent on how the progress will go and you can’t think, you can’t make a suggestion because there are so many factors, a plan can accelerate or slow down.”
He also confirmed that Victor Lindelof, Mason Mount and Rasmus Hojlund would not feature, saying “they are not ready for tomorrow. We will see, our progress will continue.”
Asked whether he feels the Carabao Cup is insignificant, Ten Hag replied:
“I wouldn’t say it’s insignificant. I see the attention from all the teams, owners, managers when they win the trophies like Liverpool did last year. I see all the teams battling for it. We want the same. In football winning trophies is very important.
“It’s about winning trophies but I don’t talk only about this, you guys are talking about we have to win, to win leagues, we are in five leagues and we want to win them, so no doubt we are aiming for a trophy and we take it seriously.”
The manager was asked if new signing Manuel Ugarte will start the game tomorrow.
“Ugarte you will see tomorrow what the selection will be for this game,” he replied.
Asked about the importance of rotation, the manager responded:
“Absolutely, very important and I think I hope I have headaches because last year I also had headaches but there were no players available. I have many players available and we can make a selection from game to game, definitely we have to rotate because we have to cover so many games. It’s not only about the starting XI. A nice headache.”
Asked if Antony will feature against the League 1 side, the boss replied that he has “to earn the right”:
“Tomorrow you will see what the line-up will be. We have training every day and the players have to earn the right, when the attitude is good and show performance in training then they will play.”
Tomorrow night’s kick-off at Old Trafford is at 8pm.
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