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Erik ten Hag reveals two Man Utd stars are ‘not ready’ for Premier League match vs Southampton at St Mary’s
Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has confirmed that two first-team players will not feature in the Premier League encounter with Southampton at the St Mary’s.
The Red Devils travel away from home on Saturday for their first Premier League fixture since the start of the September international break.
Manchester United have managed only one win in their opening three Premier League matches of the season under manager Erik ten Hag.
Ten Hag’s men kicked off their 2024-25 Premier League campaign in August with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Fulham at Old Trafford.
However, the 54-year-old United manager then saw the Red Devils suffer a late 2-1 Premier League defeat to Brighton at the Amex last month.
Ten Hag was dealt a further headache before the international break after Liverpool produced a dominating 3-0 win over United at Old Trafford.
United are 14th in the Premier League table after their opening three matches, while Southampton are 19th after losing all three of their league fixtures.
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Ten Hag’s update on two Man Utd star
Speaking at his pre-match press conference on Thursday, Erik ten Hag dropped an important update on Manchester United stars Rasmus Hojlund and Luke Shaw.
Rasmus Hojlund was sidelined with a hamstring problem after he suffered an injury in the pre-season defeat to Arsenal at the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.
The 21-year-old Denmark striker opened the scoring for United in the 2-1 loss to the Gunners in July before he was forced off the pitch in the first half.
Hojlund was expected to be ruled out for six weeks and was likely to return after the international break, but the Danish forward will miss the Southampton clash.
Luke Shaw, on the other hand, missed United’s opening three Premier League matches of the current campaign due to a calf injury.
The 29-year-old left-back, who represented England at Euro 2024 in Germany, suffered his injury at the start of pre-season training with United.
“Rasmus Hojlund and Luke Shaw are progressing very well but not ready,” Ten Hag said, as per the Manchester Evening News.
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Ten Hag sends clear Man Utd message
Despite the mixed start to the Premier League season, Ten Hag insisted that United are focused on winning ahead of the Southampton match.
“We’re in the transition period, we have to integrate a lot of young players in the team,” he said.
“We have to bring the injuries back in the team. Before anyone thinks about excuses, we have to win every game, I know that, the team knows this.
“We will focus on every game and have the mindset we have to win.”
Ten Hag added: “Of course, when we see the scores, nobody is happy. But the players have a very good sense of the process.
“We are in a good position. But we have to improve and we have to step up.”
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