Manchester United host Brentford on Saturday, aiming to stem the flow of recent defeats at Old Trafford.
Crystal Palace and Galatasaray have both left M16 with all three points in the past week and Erik ten Hag and his side will want to stop the rot and give supporters something to cheer ahead of the October international break.
Winger Antony returned as a substitute during the latter stages of the defeat to the Turkish champions on Tuesday, although the Brazilian was unable to help the 10-man Reds get back into the game.
Ten Hag feels that our no.21, who had taken a leave of absence during September, is now ready to feature from the start.
However, the game comes too quickly for Sergio Reguilon.
“Not for tomorrow,”
Ten Hag responded when asked if the Tottenham Hotspur loanee was available after a three-match absence due to a minor injury.
With Tyrell Malacia and Luke Shaw still sidelined, Sofyan Amrabat has been filling in at left-back, although Diogo Dalot and Victor Lindelof can also play there.
Dalot has been required on the other flank in recent weeks, as Aaron Wan-Bissaka is also unavailable due to injury at the moment.
Amad and Lisandro Martinez are long-term absentees, but Kobbie Mainoo was pictured training with the rest of the squad on Monday afternoon, as the talented 18-year-old midfielder continues his recovery from an issue picked up in pre-season.
Jadon Sancho is still unavailable but otherwise the Reds look fairly strong in forward areas, with Champions League joint-leading goalscorer Rasmus Hojlund looking to break his Premier League duck against the west Londoners.
Thomas Frank held his pre-match press conference on Thursday afternoon and the Dane confirmed that none of his six injured players would be available for the Bees’ trip to Old Trafford.
Joshua Dasilva, Rico Henry and Kevin Schade are long-term absentees, while Shandon Baptiste, Mikkel Damsgaard and Ben Mee are also out, with their return dates still unclear.
“All of them are long-term-ish,”
Frank said. “They’re definitely not available for the weekend; that’s the most important thing for me.”
Last season’s top scorer Ivan Toney is suspended from first-team action until January but scored in Brentford B’s 2-2 friendly draw with Como this week.
