Erik ten Hag has received the injury boost he was desperate for ahead of Brentford clash, it solves big headache

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Every game Manchester United play is important and rightly so, but the circumstances surrounding the Brentford game are somewhat different.

Erik ten Hag was under intense scrutiny throughout the international break, the team has won just three of 11 games and come into this on a five-match winless run.

The need for results is urgent so the injury news coming out of Carrington didn’t make for happy reading for Man Utd fans.

Kobbie Mainoo has been ruled out for seven games, while Manuel Ugarte’s fitness status is yet to be decided.

In the meantime, Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia remain sidelined for the Brentford game but the injury boost Ten Hag was desperate for has come through.

Erik ten Hag’s receives fullback boost

Going into this game, there was a very real possibility that Ten Hag would have just one senior fullback in the squad in the form of Diogo Dalot.

Noussair Mazraoui pulled out of international duty and the suggestions of him having surgery for heart palpitations had fans fearing the worst.

Manchester United vs Brentford prediction game became upside down because United had no left-backs and Brentford’s right-winger, Bryan Mbeumo is their biggest asset.

However, speaking to the media ahead of the game, Ten Hag revealed that Mazraoui has returned to training and will be available tomorrow.

He said: “Injuries do not help, for sure, you need players available to perform. Kobbie and Harry are out for a couple of weeks, but Mazraoui is good news. He has returned to the training pitch and is available tomorrow.”

This will allow the Dutchman to field his usual fullback pairing of Dalot on the left with Mazraoui in his preferred right-back spot.

Clearly, suggestions that Mazraoui could miss months of action were way off and the international break came at the right time for the player so he didn’t miss any big games.

Noussair Mazraoui salvages dire situation

Mazraoui’s availability solves a big headache for Ten Hag because United’s left-back situation is dire, to say the least.

It has been nearly eight months since the team last played with a natural left-back and Luke Shaw’s absence, in particular, is grating on the fans now.

The Englishman was supposed to return after the first international break in September but even the second one has come and gone with no return in sight.

Ten Hag confirmed in his press conference that they are taking it slow with his and Malacia’s return due to historical risk and chances of re-injury.

He said: “We can’t force their return and have to do it cleverly. We don’t want them to return and quickly drop out, but of course, we hope they come back as soon as possible because this team needs a left-full back.”

While that is admirable, if either of Shaw and Malacia can’t stay fit consistently after this return is handled with extreme cautiousness, the time will be next summer to make a permanent decision.