Martial missed Thursday’s win over Omonia (Picture: Getty)
Erik ten Hag believes Anthony Martial could be fit to return for Manchester United against Newcastle United on Sunday.
Martial has picked up three separate injuries this season that have limited him to just one Premier League start.
After recovering from an achilles problem, the Frenchman scored three goals in two games off the bench against Manchester City and Omonia, providing the assist for Antony’s opener against Everton last Sunday before being forced off after half an hour.
The 26-year-old missed the Europa League win over Omonia in the return fixture at Old Trafford on Thursday but could be in contention for the visit of Eddie Howe’s side.
Harry Maguire meanwhile remains sidelined with a knock picked up while on international duty in September.
‘Anthony Martial can be [back] but we have to wait to see how he develops in the coming hours,’ ten Hag said. ‘Harry Maguire will not make this [game] but it doesn’t take long I think. I think next week he’ll be back in the team training or over [i.e. after] next week.’
Cristiano Ronaldo replaced Martial against Everton last week and scored his first goal from open play this season to seal the win with his 700th club career goal.
Maguire picked up a knock while on England duty (Picture: Getty)
While Marcus Rashford has started the season in goal-scoring form, Ronaldo’s decline and Martial’s injuries have highlighted United’s need for a new centre forward, having failed to bolster their options up front in the summer.
But ten Hag is confident the attackers he has at his disposal are up to the task.
Asked if he believes his strikers can score 20 goals this season, ten Hag said: ‘Yes, I’m confident, mostly. In my teams, there are players who will score.
‘They come into the position and in the last part, it’s also about the freedom from the player, the intuition, the space they have to take.
‘When they have that feeling then you will see that when they have the talent, when they have the potential, they will score that number of goals.
‘I think we have in our squad players who can score that number of goals, but you can also divide it, because we have many goal scorers across the offensive department. But I think we also need something from midfield and the defensive department.’
MORE : Erik ten Hag ‘frustrated’ with Manchester United players after late Omonia win, claims Paul Scholes
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Martial has picked up three different injuries this season.
