‘Not in a good position’ - Erik ten Hag in Champions League qualification admission as Man Utd boss once again points towards injury crisis for poor campaign

After giving up a late goal to drop two points away at Brentford on Saturday, United are now nine points behind fifth-placed Tottenham and 11 points behind fourth-placed Aston Villa. The Dutchman has admitted that qualifying for the Champions League could prove to be very difficult owing to the growing injury list.

Speaking to the media, Ten Hag said: "I have high standards and I will be disappointed if we don’t qualify. I know it will be very difficult because we are not in a good position. But we want to win every game and that is the standard we have among each other and we will keep going and keep being in belief and having that standard. That will be the approach in every game.

"We will keep fighting until the end, but I know we are not in a good position. We have to catch up and I know we have had a lot of problems and I am a realistic man in a competition that is so competitive and the teams are so close in levels to each other."

Victor Lindelof and Lisandro Martinez became United's two most recent defenders to have muscular issues. The team declared on Tuesday that they will be absent for a minimum of one month. The campaign has been marred by injuries for Ten Hag's team. The Dutchman will be happy to see Raphael Varane and Jonny Evans back in training with Tyrell Malacia and Luke Shaw also out for at least the next week.

The Dutchman will lead his side against Chelsea later tonight when they travel to Stamford Bridge with the club looking to regain their lost form.