Manchester United will look to bounce back when they take on Turkish giants Galatasaray on Tuesday in their second group game of the Champions League.
United have lost two on the bounce in the Premier League and opened their Champions League campaign with a 3-4 defeat away to Bayern Munich.
Manager Erik ten Hag is under pressure to deliver results and injuries have played a major role in the recent losses.
Lisandro Martinez is set to have yet another foot surgery which the manager confirmed while he added that Antony could be in the reckoning but he has had only one proper training session so far.
Antony back, Lisandro out
The Brazilian had been accused of domestic violence and the club had announced he would remain away from the first-team till investigations get over.
“I can confirm, yeah. Licha Martinez will undergo surgery and the team news is Antony can probably return. Antony co-operated fully and it came out, he’s not charged, so.
“Antony will be in consideration but yesterday was his first time back in team training. We have a final training, then we’ll make a decision.”
A lot of criticism has been aimed at Marcus Rashford and Casemiro, talismans in the previous campaign. But they have underperformed, which has negatively affected the team.
“You have to deal with. Experienced players know how to deal with it and it’s not the first time we’re in this situation because that’s a career, it’s not only highlights, it’s a journey and that will have bumps.
“Now it’s about the character, what you have to show and how to get out. There are many positives but things we need to improve on.”
The England winger, in particular, seems to allow his head to drop far too easily but Ten Hag insisted that the players are experienced enough and need to show character to bounce back.
“The facts are he’s not scoring at this moment, but he’s had opportunities, like against Brighton, where he had five or six occasions in a good spot.
Can Rashford hit top form again?
“If he works hard and invests every day, with the right focus and if the team around him supplies and helps him with movement, then it will come and Rashford is a player who’s capable of scoring a goal in every game. When he’s coming in the right spots, he will score.”
The Dutch manager was asked about United’s stuttering start and the fact that the club seems to take one step forward and subsequently, two steps back.
Ten Hag insisted progress was being made but injuries have meant there has been no consistency and mostly disappointing results.
“I think I don’t agree with that [lack of progress]. The team is moving forward, but we have to make adjustments as well.
“When you don’t have a left-back [fit], we have to change and we did. At the end of the day, it’s about results and we didn’t get the result we were looking for, which is very disappointing.”