Erik ten Hag hints at Manchester United injury boost for Leicester City clash

Manchester United head coach Erik ten Hag has said that Antony, Anthony Martial and Scott McTominay could be back in contention for Sunday's Premier League clash with Leicester City.

Antony has been out for the team's last three matches against Leeds United (twice) and Barcelona, with the Brazil international suffering with a muscular issue.

Martial, meanwhile, has had a number of injury problems this season, with the centre-forward on the sidelines for long spells.

A hip problem has been the reason for the France international's recent absence, while McTominay has not featured in Man United's last six matches in all competitions due to a muscular problem.

However, Ten Hag has revealed that "one or two" of the trio could make their returns against Leicester at Old Trafford on Saturday afternoon.

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"Maybe. We have to wait until tomorrow. Maybe one or two players can return, yeah," the Dutchman told MUTV when asked about the three players.

Casemiro will serve the final match of his three-game Premier League suspension this weekend, but the squad will be boosted by the returns of Lisandro Martinez and Marcel Sabitzer, who were both banned for Thursday's Europa League contest with Barcelona.

"You don't want to miss them in the squad, in Barcelona. They are important players for our team," Ten Hag added. "They are back in the squad, which is good. That will strengthen the squad, so we will have a good team on Sunday."

However, Donny van de Beek and Christian Eriksen remain long-term injury absentees, while Mason Greenwood is not being considered for selection despite recently having all criminal charges against him dropped.

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Man United are unbeaten in all competitions since the 3-2 loss at Arsenal in the Premier League on January 22.

Ten Hag's side were 2-0 winners over Leeds United in the league last weekend, while they drew 2-2 with Barcelona in the first leg of their Europa League knockout round playoff on Thursday.

Luke Shaw played as a centre-back against Xavi's side due to the absence of Martinez, with Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof both named on the bench.

Meanwhile, Wout Weghorst was used as a number 10, with Marcus Rashford going through the middle.

Man United will be aiming to move to within three points of second-placed Manchester City in the table on Sunday before switching their attention to next week's clash with Barcelona at Old Trafford.