23 February 2024 , 14:15
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Rasmus Hojlund will miss the Manchester derby on Sunday week after being ruled out for up to three weeks with a muscle injury.
Hojlund was injured in training and the Denmark striker’s loss is a big blow to Manchester United. Hojlund has been on fire and had scored in his previous six appearances, netting a total of eight goals in eight games. He has 13 in total and is beginning to live up to his weighty £72million transfer fee from Atalanta.
Hojlund will miss Saturday's home clash with Luton, the FA Cup clash with Nottingham Forest in midweek and crucially the trip to the Etihad to face champions Manchester City on March 3.
United hope he will return for the home match against Everton on March 9 and his absence seriously blunts their attack.
United boss Erik ten Hag tried to play down Hojlund’s injury and said: “It's a small injury, two to three weeks.
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“That’s what happened, that’s the risk playing high intensity in training. It’s not a big injury, but he has to wait now for two-three weeks.”
Ten Hag is confident he can meet Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s target of qualifying for the Champions League to hang on to his job. United, who have won their last five games, are sixth, three points behind fifth-placed Tottenham and five behind fourth-placed Aston Villa.
“Absolutely, I have that feeling,” he said. “We have so many talks, we are very aligned, we have the same ambition, we are very aligned in the process.”
Rasmus Hojlund during Manchester United's win at Aston Villa (Getty Images)Ten Hag claims he has already spoken to United’s new minority shareholder, who is in charge of all football operations, several times and that they want the same things.
“We speak a lot,” he said. “There are many conversations with him, with Dave Brailsford, about this club, about this team, about the structures, we are very aligned. It totally fits with ambitions I have, the ambitions I had when I came in.
“I’m 19 months in and I see we are going in the right direction. We’ve had setbacks in the second season, but you see the team coming, the squad developing, we must work hard on the training pitch, work hard during games.
“It’s important to have players fit, but also to construct the squad. We will be strong and we will be even stronger when we add to this squad even more qualities.”
Ten Hag admits qualification for the Champions League is paramount, but is confident it will happen.
“I see the process and I see this team is developing, it’s progressing,” he said. “I see we have now also the right age across the squad, we can make that even stronger and they will grow and we will do everything in our power.
“There is strong competition and we still have to catch up. In this moment every game is a final for us because we have to be in the Champions League. The players want this, the team want this, but we have to believe.”
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