Erik ten Hag says his Manchester United players are relishing being the only team in the country still fighting on four fronts.
United host Reading in the FA Cup this weekend and are remain in the hunt for four trophies, the others being the Premier League, EFL Cup and Europa League. Saturday night’s tie at Old Trafford is the first of 11 games in 42 days for United, but Ten Hag said his players are up for the challenge despite the crazy schedule ahead.
“That’s good, that’s why we need all the players we have in the squad here,” Ten Hag said of the jam-packed schedule. “To develop them, but especially to get the right results out of it. We want to stay in all of those competitions as long as possible, so we have to fight for that.
“That’s good for the development of this squad. If we’re ahead or not in the process, I don’t know. What we do is every day we have to give our maximum, because good is not good enough. We have to do better, so we keep going with the progress.
“It’s never at an end. We have to approach it like that. If we’re ahead or not in the process, it’s not that important – it’s where we are now. We want to win every game. It doesn’t matter who the opponent is.”
On United’s gruelling schedule, Ten Hag said: “It’s tough, but I think it’s always better to have games than training. Players like more games than they like training, so we’re looking forward. There’s a good spirit and a good mood in this dressing room to cope with that.”
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Jadon Sancho could make his first appearance in 14 weeks against Reading in the fourth-round tie. Last month, Ten Hag said the winger was “not in the right status or fitness state”, having undergone an individual fitness programme in the Netherlands rather than travel to the squad’s winter camp to Spain.
Ten Hag said patience was paramount with Sancho, who resumed group training last Tuesday after returning to Carrington earlier in January. “He is training with the team and we will see,” the United boss said of the 22-year-old, who last played in October’s 1-1 draw at Chelsea. “So, he’s improving, he’s making steps and we will make the decision after training.”
Pushed on whether Sancho could feature against Reading, Ten Hag replied: “I said he’s on the way back, he’s making steps. He’s back in team training and now we have to see when he’s ready to go back into the games.”
