Anthony Martial: Erik ten Hag hopeful of return before World Cup

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag is hopeful that striker Anthony Martial will be back fit for the Red Devils before the World Cup next month.

One of the stars during the early weeks of Ten Hag's reign but seldom seen so far, Martial began the season with a hamstring injury before suffering Achilles and back problems which have restricted him to just four appearances in all competitions.

Despite his limited minutes, Martial has still racked up an impressive return of three goals and two assists, so fans are eagerly awaiting his return to the United lineup.

According to Ten Hag, that wait may not be much longer.

"I hope [he'll be back before the World Cup," Ten Hag told a press conference. "But he's making progress. He is outside and he is working there. So he is on the pitch and we are waiting for his step back in team training."

Asked about Martial's latest back problem, Ten Hag added: "It was really frustrating for us but also for him and we have seen that he played good in pre-season.

"He has [not many] minutes, but he scored already three goals. In Everton, he had also an important role with the first goal, his assist for Antony, so it would be really good to have him back because he can make a difference. He can score goals but also linking up he's really important - and the pressing from him is really good."

With Martial and the wantaway Cristiano Ronaldo the only natural strikers in Ten Hag's group, the boss was then asked whether he will look to sign a new forward in the January transfer window, but he was keen to keep his focus on his current group of players.

"I think in this moment we are not focusing on that," he said. "In this moment we have to work on developing our team, develop our attacking department, our attacking game. And we have strikers, we have good ones, and now we are working on the progress of that."