Massive problem for Erik ten Hag! Man Utd boss opens up on his 'biggest frustrations' as Red Devils are without a left-back for the rest of the season

The Red Devils cut short Sergio Reguilon's loan spell from Tottenham in January after Ten Hag said his medical staff assured him left-backs Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia would both be fit and available in January. While the former returned, the England international then suffered a muscle injury five games into his comeback and is set to miss the rest of the season. With Malacia also sidelined, Ten Hag hinted United would have kept Reguilon had he known he would have been short of defenders.

He told reporters: “In December I had talks, internally, with the medical and performance [staff]. They assured me they will both be fit in January and so you will have two left full-backs. Then you have a third one, so I would have to always disappoint one full-back [Reguilon]. We're talking about one of the biggest frustrations. You can accept in one position that a player is not available, but when two players are not available over the course of the season, that's very frustrating. It's very difficult to catch up as a team, but we've dealt with it in the best way, but of course it's a disadvantage.”

United have had a lengthy injury list this season but they have still been out of sorts throughout much of the campaign. However, Ten Hag, who has won 60 matches as United boss, feels they would have won a lot more games with a fully fit squad and the team's future is bright.

“Imagine if we had many more players available and not setbacks and injuries. It could easily have been 75 wins and that tells the bright future of this team. When you compare it with other managers, other teams, or previous managers in this big club, you can see there is a bright future. No team can deal with so many injuries. We missed so many key players over the part of the season. We've had big setbacks, but we keep going and have a strong mentality. We keep fighting and keep pushing the team in the right direction," he added.

Ten Hag's United, who sit sixth in the Premier League and suffered early Carabao Cup and Champions League exits, host relegation-threatened Everton at Old Trafford in Saturday's early kick-off.