Erik ten Hag reveals Antony's chances of featuring in FA Cup final
By Tom Gott
Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has admitted Antony is unlikely to recover from his ankle injury in time to face Manchester City in the FA Cup final on Saturday.
Antony missed United's final game of the Premier League season after injuring his ankle during the 4-1 victory over Chelsea, which immediately threw his involvement in Saturday's cup final into doubt.
After that domestic finale, Ten Hag had claimed that Antony would 'probably' be fit enough to face City but, just 24 hours before the trip to Wembley, the boss has now changed his tone and admitted he does not expect to see the Brazilian in action.
"Unlikely," Ten Hag rated Antony's chances of recovery.
"Antony still [has] a chance but a really small chance. He didn’t make progress, so he still has a chance but unlikely he is available."
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One player who will definitely not feature is striker Anthony Martial. The Frenchman injured his hamstring during the Fulham game and will miss his 33rd United game of the campaign in all competitions because of fitness concerns.
Ten Hag was keen to avoid discussing Martial's fitness, instead trying to push the focus back to the players available to him.
"These questions, so many times from the media about absence of players in the last couple of months and every time I say the same answer: it is about the players who are available and many times we were successful," the boss said.
"So we have a good squad and from the good squad we make a good team."
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On this edition of The Promised Land, part of the 90min podcast network, Scott Saunders and Rob Blanchette preview the FA Cup final!
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