Erik ten Hag confirms recovery timeline for 5 injured Man Utd stars

Erik ten Hag has confirmed he expects the Manchester United squad to be bolstered by the returns of several injured stars in January.

Injuries have been a huge problem for Ten Hag this season. The Dutchman has regularly been without a number of usual starters, while his defensive depth has often been tested across a tricky first five months of the campaign.

During Friday's press conference, Ten Hag denied he wanted major reinforcements in the January transfer window and instead insisted his priority is recovering all his injured stars.

"[Lisandro Martinez and Casemiro] are not available before Christmas," he said. "Mid-January, we expect them back.

"Mason Mount is similar, into January. Harry Maguire, I expect him early on [in the new year]."

Ten Hag also confirmed centre-back Victor Lindelof has been forced to undergo minor surgery which will rule him out for the remainder of the calendar year.

"Victor Lindelof is not available. He has done surgery so he will be out for a couple of weeks," the boss revealed.

"What happened? He had a problem and so [personal] is that but he has to do the surgery."

There was some positive news, however, as United confirmed Danish midfielder Christian Eriksen has returned to training. The 31-year-old has missed the last five Premier League games with a knee problem but is on the cusp of a return to competitive action.

Earlier in December, United predicted left-back Tyrell Malacia would return from his knee injury "early in the new year", and young winger Amad Diallo is also stepping up his involvement in training as he seeks his first appearance of the season.

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