ERIK TEN HAG has been dealt a triple injury blow ahead of this week’s crunch clash with Barcelona.
And the Manchester United manager cited an “overload” on his stars for the woes.
United head to the Nou Camp on Thursday night for the first leg of their Europa League play-off.
But they will make the trip to Spain without Antony, Anthony Martial or Scott McTominay.
The trio sat out of Sunday’s win at Leeds and remain unavailable to take on the LaLiga leaders.
They join Christian Eriksen and Donny van de Beek in the United treatment room with the two midfielders both long-term absentees.
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And Ten Hag believes the fixture pile-up has played a part in the number of injuries.
The Old Trafford boss – whose side play eight times in February and are still in all three cup competitions – said last week: “I can’t say 100 per cent but I don’t expect it [the three players to be back against Barcelona].
“Definitely, it’s a tough season.
“With the World Cup in between there’s a lot of load – overload – on the players, that’s quite clear.
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“That process is already longer term coming on, that the load on the players is too much.
“Christian Eriksen, you can’t put that under that reason. Martial, you can’t put that under that reason.
“It’s really individual, how we can see it and how we find reasons why things happen.
“But also, if you play top football, you go across limits and injuries will come up. That’s also a normal issue, I would say.”
Casemiro, though, will be available for selection at Barcelona because his three-match ban is domestic while Jadon Sancho and Aaron Wan-Bissaka are welcome returns plus Marcel Sabitzer joined to bolster the midfield options on deadline day.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
