ERIK TEN HAG is convinced he would have won 75 of his first 100 games in charge of Manchester United without injury problems.
The Red Devils boss completed his century of matches in last week’s derby defeat.
Of those Ten Hag has won 60 which is a better record than both Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool and Mikel Arteta at Arsenal from their first 100.
But Ten Hag believes it could have been so much better and he has done the best he can with the players available.
Ten Hag said: “Imagine if they were available, we could easily have won from 75 games from 100.
“It tells that we are in the right direction.
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“We could easily have 75 wins and that tells the bright future of this team.
“When you compare it with other managers, other teams, or previous managers in this big club you can see there is a bright future.
“It is a good balance in ages in this squad. Young players, middle-aged players.”
Ten Hag has had to deal with 48 cases of injury or illness leading to players missing a game.
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There are 10 missing for tomorrow’s match with Everton.
He said: “No team can deal with so many injuries, I think we played to maximum levels if you take in respect the availability of the players.
“We have missed so many key players over the part of the season, the performances we have seen when the players are available in January and February are very good.”
The good news for him is that both Marcus Rashford and Jonny Evans are fit having been taken off with knocks in the derby.
Also Harry Maguire, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and striker Rasmus Hojlund, who has been named player of the month for February, will be fit for next weekend’s home FA Cup game with Liverpool.
Mason Mount, who has been out since November with a calf injury, could be back after the coming international break.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk