10 March 2023 , 13:38
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Christian Eriksen will return for Manchester United before the end of the season, according to boss Erik ten Hag.
The midfielder was ruled out until late April after suffering an ankle injury in an FA Cup tie against Reading on January 31st at Old Trafford. Asked when he felt Eriksen would return, Ten Hag said: “I think he will play, yeah, definitely. But I can’t tell now an expectation, but I think his progress with the rehab is okay. It's going according to plan, so we will definitely see him, but not before the international break.”
Asked if he had kept Eriksen involved with the squad during his enforced absence, Ten Hag said: “Oh, yes, he is. But his main focus at the moment is to get back as soon as possible because we need all the players.”
Ten Hag was delighted by his players' show of character and quality against Real Betis as United bounced back from their seven-goal shellacking at Liverpool with a Europa League win.
"Definitely," Ten Hag replied when asked if the last-16 first-leg victory was the reaction he was after. "We said that we had to reset and we have to bounce back and I think we played quite good first half. I think we should have been up 3-0 also, but then we make one mistake.
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"Then you go 1-1 into half-time but we bounce back in the second half and I think it was a really good performance in the second half.
How much have Manchester United missed Christian Eriksen? Have your say in the comments!
Christian Eriksen is expected to play again this season (Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images)"It's not about ignoring (the Liverpool defeat). We make mistakes and we got hammered for that because we didn't control the standards we have. We showed complacency and you can never do that in top football."
Ten Hag hailed Bruno Fernandes - who had his suitability as United skipper called into question after his Anfield meltdown - for answering his critics with his display against Betis.
“I think he showed a big personality by giving this performance and leading the team, so it was brilliant,” said Ten Hag. “I think he has so much skill and now is scoring with his head from a corner.
“He scores with his right, with his left, with his head and he's creating with final passes. Of course, he's very happy when he scores a goal, because that’s important. Then you can celebrate and he did that together with his fans.”