‘We will have a bench’
Last time Man United met Man City, Erik ten Hag believes his side’s weak substitutes made the difference.
Ten Hag was forced to bring on the inexperienced youngsters Willy Kambwala and Omari Forson in that game.
Meanwhile, Pep Guardiola didn’t even use Josko Gvardiol, Manuel Akanji, Mateo Kovacic and Matheus Nunes.
Now, United will have Rasmus Hojlund, Lisandro Martinez, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Mason Mount, Anthony Martial all available.
They all missed the last Manchester derby but will now provide Ten Hag with some much-needed depth.
Ten Hag on his future
Erik ten Hag didn’t go into too much detail about this being potentially his last game in charge of Man United.
He remains focused on the FA Cup but did mention a chat with the ownership about the next steps.
“We spoke about it: very good things, players coming up, values coming up and we have a big opportunity to win the next trophy.
“I came here to win trophies. We will see where we are in the project, things we have to change.”
So could there be a chance Ten Hag stays for another season?
Maguire out
So, Harry Maguire is out of the FA Cup final!
He has failed to recover from his injury and won’t be available to feature at Wembley against Man City.
Victor Lindelof is fit though, and so are Mason Mount and Anthony Martial who could be part of the squad.
Maguire missing out will be a huge blow for United who will have wanted their centre-back to return this weekend.
He hasn’t played since the 27th April and that is his domestic season over.
There will now also be concerns over his fitness for Euro 2024…
That’s all!
And that’s that from Erik ten Hag’s pre-FA Cup final press conference.
Stick with us for some more reaction to his comments on Harry Maguire, Marcus Rashford and his future at the club.
We have more coming up next…
Thinking about transfers
There have been talks about transfers this summer according to Erik ten Hag but he remains focused on the final first.
“Yes, of course [we’ve been thinking about transfers], but my focus is… until Saturday I only think about this game.”
On United’s approach to the final
Erik ten Hag believes that Man United will be able to compete with Man City this weekend and referenced previous meetings with their rivals.
“I think we were very competitive until a VAR decision at Old Trafford.
“A tough decision, I thought. Nobody understood, we haven’t seen this in the rest of the season.”
“At the Etihad we were 70 mins very good in the game. We had opportunities to score a second goal.
“Then they could sub, we didn’t have the bench. That’s a big difference.
“On Saturday we will have a bench. We will have a much stronger side.”