Key quotes from Erik's press conference: part one

The Reds enter Saturday's game in fine goalscoring form, notching three against Southampton last time out in the league before hitting seven against Barnsley at Old Trafford to take us into the next round of the Carabao Cup, all while maintaining a perfect defensive record across the two matches.

Plenty of question marks still remain, however, over the condition of returning players and how Ten Hag plans to approach this weekend's test against the Eagles, topics which were addressed in this meeting with the media.

Keep scrolling to read all the key quotes from the first part of the Dutchman's briefing...

 

HOJLUND AND MOUNT RETURN

"It's very good news. They are back on the pitch, they are back in team training and, yeah, we have to decide whether they are fit enough to start. But I think it's very pleasing they are back with the squad. We have so many games also in this block to cover, so, yeah, very happy."

RASHFORD'S RESURGENCE

"It's very good, of course, that your strikers, they are starting to score when the season is very young. Strikers, they need that belief, and we have now a couple of players who are, in the meanwhile, on the scoring list, and it is very good as a team, because that will strengthen their belief, and they will come up for more, and they will score more goals now."

AVOIDING INJURIES

"Careful in top football? You always go through boundaries, so it's not avoidable. But when you have a full squad available, then it is more easy to manage the load. And when you are in the circumstances like last season, then there is a need to play. Then, also, you have to overload them. So, we hope we can integrate them in a very careful way."

ANTONY ALWAYS READY

"I think every player should give those reactions. You have to train hard, you have to perform in training, you have to earn the right to play, and when the moment is your chance, you have to take them. But, yeah, the manager can only pick 11 players, and then I can only make five subs, so make sure you are with those 16 players for every game. And you do it by, on a consistent basis; perform. In training, and of course, that's the most important, when the chance is there, you have to perform in a game. You have to contribute to a winning team."

SETTLING SCORES

"Not [any lessons learnt from 4-0 defeat last season] in particular. We know what will come to us. We know it's always tough there, always aggressive there. But we know also the circumstances and you can't compare this. We didn't have a fit squad, we even had one or two players that were maybe up to 20 per cent to play, but we had to play them. And this time it's totally different, we have now a fit squad. We have, definitely, 18 players who are capable to go into this good challenge for us."

COMPARING LAST TIME OUT

"Yeah, maybe you can also compare the FA Cup final; I don't compare it and because the circumstances in that moment in the season, I would say from February on, we almost had to, every time, find 11 players who can construct a team. And now we are in a different place. We have 18 players, and we can pick a team."