Manchester United are set to take on Arsenal on Sunday and Mason Mount is going to miss their final home game of the season.
The summer signing had just come back from a four-month injury layoff but his manager has confirmed that the midfielder has picked up yet another setback and will not be available for Sunday’s home game.
However, Scott McTominay is back in training along with Bruno Fernandes who missed his first-ever senior professional game due to an injury last Monday. The pair has trained normally and they will be included in the matchday squad.
“I hope I have players, yeah,” Ten Hag has said in his pre-match press conference. “But there are players they did train this morning. It was Bruno was on the pitch and Scott McTominay was on the pitch so there are some players returning.
“But also I have to report that unfortunately, yesterday, Mason Mount fell out. So he will not be available for Sunday.”
Marcus Rashford has missed the previous few matches due to an ankle injury but he’s also returned to training and should feature against Arsenal.
The manager added: “Rashy, of course, he trained this morning as well, and we have to see how he recovered from this. But I think it looks quite good and I hope he can tomorrow make the next training and then see if he is available for Sunday.”
How will the injury to Mason Mount affect Ten Hag plans?
Mason Mount now becomes the 64th different injury/illness absentee this season for Manchester United and it’s safe to say that Erik ten Hag has now gotten used to playing without a fully-fit squad.
Mount’s absence means McTominay should come back into the side to partner young Kobbie Mainoo while Casemiro will continue in defence. The manager also has the option of using Eriksen alongside Mainoo but the 32-year-old is not a defensive-minded midfielder plus he does no have the legs to chase down the likes of Rice and Odegaard.
Casemiro was one of the poorest players on the pitch in that 4-0 loss to Palace but Martinez, Willy Kambwala, Victor Lindelof, Harry Maguire and Raphael Varane are still on the sidelines which means Ten Hag has no other option but to rely on the pairing of Evans and Casemiro in central defence.
Lisandro Martinez has started training on grass but Sunday’s home game will come too early for him while Harry Maguire is pushing to be available for the FA Cup final. If these two do not suffer fresh setbacks then the Man United manager should have two proper centre-backs on the pitch at Wembley.
As far as Mason Mount is concerned, the midfielder has missed 27 games in his first season with Manchester United so his absence against Arsenal won’t have too much of an effect on Ten Hag’s plans.
