Manchester United will take on Spurs in the Premier League on Thursday and as it stands, Bruno Fernandes is going to miss this tie.
The playmaker picked up a knock during United’s win over Brighton on Sunday and he was seen leaving Wembley with a limp. Earlier this week, he was seen in protective boots and this immediately put him in doubt for the midweek tie.
Now, in his pre-match press conference, Erik ten Hag has refused to rule him out but we don’t think the manager is going to use him so early and risk aggravating the injury.
“We don’t know yet, he is a question mark. I think for the rest, we are quite okay,” Ten Hag told reports on Wednesday.
“It’s more often [than not] that players [wear the boot], that we protect them. Prevention. But it [the ankle] has to settle down so we all have seen he played the full [90-minute] game and it happened in the first half.
“But [the game is] Thursday, so tomorrow is quick but we have to see what is possible.”
Bruno Fernandes was seen without the protective boot on Wednesday at Carrington but the Portuguese international was still walking with a slight limp.
Ten Hag is already without some very important players like Varane and Martinez so the last thing he will want is to lose Fernandes for the remainder of the season.
The No 10 is not expected to feature against Tottenham but because the injury is not serious, he will be in contention to face Aston Villa on Sunday.
If he is not named in the matchday squad on Thursday then this will be the first game the 28-year-old is going to miss due to an injury. The last match he missed was way back during the 16/17 season when he was out for one game with flu.
With Bruno Fernandes missing, Christian Eriksen is likely to play in the playmaker’s role which means either Sabitzer or Fred will come into central midfield and partner with Casemiro. Eriksen is more than capable of playing as the No 10 but the ex-Spurs man is much more successful when he is linking up with Bruno in and around the final third.
