Ten Hag reveals team news for Newport tie
Erik ten Hag has revealed his plans for the Emirates FA Cup fourth-round tie with Newport County.
The Reds take on the League Two side at Rodney Parade in Sunday's 16:30 GMT kick-off, the first-ever competitive meeting between the two clubs.
With the game coming on the back of a winter break, hopefully there will be fresh energy and impetus as we bid to take another step on the road to Wembley by avoiding a giantkilling in South Wales.
Altay Bayindir will start in goal and make his debut, with Andre Onana on Africa Cup of Nations duty with Cameroon. Sofyan Amrabat is also at the tournament in the Ivory Coast and remains unavailable.
There are doubts over Jonny Evans and Marcus Rashford, who both reported ill at Carrington on Friday morning, but Harry Maguire, Lisandro Martinez, Luke Shaw and Casemiro are set to be available.
"It's a strong side and we have still some injuries, like [Victor] Lindelof and [Tyrell] Malacia," the manager told MUTV in his exclusive club-media interview. "This morning, Rashford was ill and Evans was ill. So we have to see how they recover but we have, for the rest, players returning, like Martinez, like Shaw, like Maguire, like Casemiro, which is a good thing."
Ten Hag said at his press conference that he is not underestimating Sunday's test, in what should a fabulous atmosphere in Newport.
"At Ajax, we also played against lower-class teams," he stated. "I know always, when you go as a big club to a lower-class team, you have to approach that and definitely us, we are definitely not in the position to underestimate any opponent. So we will not do [so]."