17 April 2023 , 08:48
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Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag is facing a growing injury headache with Phil Jones still unavailable for Sunday's FA Cup semi-final clash with Brighton.
Ten Hag has been hit by a defensive crisis, with Lisandro Martinez having already been ruled out for the rest of the season, Raphael Varane feared to follow suit, Luke Shaw sitting out their last two games and Tyrell Malacia's sore knee preventing him from featuring in the win over Nottingham Forest.
The Red Devils are facing a further issue for Sunday's showpiece game at Wembley, with captain Harry Maguire suspended after he was booked in the quarter-final win over Fulham.
If Varane, Shaw and Malacia are all ruled out with injury this Sunday, then Ten Hag will be forced to break out emergency measures. There were suggestions that could include Jones making his first appearance since last May's win over Brentford.
But those hopes have been dashed, with Jones expected to be ruled out of the clash with Brighton. According to The Athletic, the Englishman has not been able to complete a training session all season.
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As a result, he is not considered to be an 'option' for Ten Hag and his coaching staff. Jones made five appearances in total last season under interim boss Ralf Rangnick and impressed given the nightmare time he has had with injuries.
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Harry Maguire is suspended for Sunday's FA Cup semi-final against BrightonHe had spent the summer break doing physical work to get in the best shape possible for pre-season. But on the first day of his return from his holidays, the defender suffered a recurrence of his long-standing knee injury.
He has been unable to get fit since then and was not named in either United's Premier League or Europa League squads. Ten Hag saw Maguire and Victor Lindelof secure a clean sheet in Sunday's win over Nottingham Forest, but will now need to come up with a new plan for the semi-final.
''It was a very good performance from the defence. We said before, defending is with eleven players and how we do it but of course, the back four you pay a lot of attention to that," he said after the win at the City Ground.
Erik ten Hag was happy with his side's defensive display away at Nottingham Forest (Matthew Peters/Manchester United via Getty Images)"We defended really well to dominate the opponent and I counted one moment in the game on the counter where the defensive transition was really good. They really concentrated. The angles are not good if Harry is playing on the left side, it is difficult for him.
"But I think he is more capable on the right. Victor can use both feet very good and I think he did a brilliant job in defence and in transition from Johnson. So that is why we prefer to do it with them in this way.
''You see how quickly things can change, last week we had nine fit defenders, today we had four. Today was one step where we proved we can perform really well with those players and Thursday we have to go again and Sunday we have to go again.''