Read Ralf's matchday Q&A

The 63-year-old spoke to MUTV's Stewart Gardner ahead of the encounter with Antonio Conte's side, with Rangnick delivering the latest on team news and praise for the Reds' Under-18 side, as well as which opposition players his team should be keeping a close eye on this weekend...

Ralf you had four players missing at City last weekend, what’s the situation this weekend in terms of team news?
“Luke [Shaw] will still be out. Until yesterday he was still testing positive [for Covid] even though he was negative today. Without having trained and having some symptoms it doesn't make sense to have him in the squad for this game. Hopefully he will be a candidate for Tuesday but for tomorrow’s game he will be out. There’s also a question mark behind Scott McTominay. He had some calf problems after training yesterday and the day before yesterday so we didn’t let him train. Currently I don't want to take the risk in playing him tomorrow with this kind of injury so those two will probably be out.”

The forwards, we missed Cristiano and Edi [Edinson Cavani] last week, how are they looking after training?
“Edi was training last week and Cristiano had his first training session yesterday and he will be training today. They both after yesterday’s training session told us that the have no problems anymore so they both should be available for tomorrow’s game.”

How has training been this week? Obviously it was a tough weekend but did the focus turn pretty quickly to the Spurs game?
“Yes. The first one or two days on the field we also spoke and held unit meetings about at least the first two goals that we conceded against Manchester City because they were both, I wouldn’t say giveaways but we made it far too easy for City to score in those two moments. We spoke through that with the back four and the defensive midfielders and I also had some individual conversations with some players. But since yesterday our full focus was on tomorrow’s game.”

Also this week we saw the Under-18s reach the Youth Cup final, does it show those players that there is a path to the first team when they look at the likes of Anthony [Elanga] and Hannibal, who have now been working with the first team?
“Yes I hope it does help them realise that it is always possible. It has also been possible at a club like Manchester United with the younger players. If the attitude was right, they have enough talent, enough mentality then there is a pathway to be a regular player for this club. I have seen them play not in the semi-final but in the quarter-final against Leicester and I also watched the game against Borussia Dortmund in the Youth League. There are quite a few technical players, really good players in possession of the ball and if they can combine that with physicality and speed that is also necessary in this Premier League, then I would be very happy to see a couple of those players in the first team in the next few years.”

Before the semi-final the other night Harry Maguire went into the dressing room to speak to the lads. Is that the sort of leadership you want from the senior players?
“I heard about that yesterday. I think it is great that Harry is watching again and taking his time two days before an important Premier League game to go into the locker room and speak to them before the game, I have also said that Harry is a good captain. This is another example.”

It's Spurs this weekend, they have a distinct style under Antonio Conte which I suppose means you know what to expect from them?
“We have watched enough games like we always do. We prepare our team for the next opponent, one of the best transitional teams in transitional moments with Heung Min-Son and Harry Kane. On the other hand they are also vulnerable at the back. There must be some reasons why they lost games against Burnley away, Middlesborough or against Wolves. We are fully aware about their assets and the strengths they have in their team with the style of football and that we can beat them on the day.”

Harry Kane, everyone knows what he can do but he seems to be dropping a lot deeper these days and linking play. Is that something you have looked at in the build up to this game?
“Yes of course. They are playing in a 3-4-3 or a 5-2-3. At times they are very defensive and sit in a deep block waiting for the counter-attacking moments and their biggest threat is that combination with Kulusevski but even more so with Heung Min-Son and Harry Kane.”

The next two games at Old Trafford on Saturday and Tuesday, how would you sum up the next 4-5 days at Old Trafford?
“Highly significant, highly important both games. Tomorrow’s game is highly important in terms of our situation in the league and the table in the league. We are fully aware we need to win this game to stay in touch with the other teams competing for fourth place in the league. The game on Tuesday is like a final: it's 1-1 and we are playing at home against Atletico where we want to qualify for the quarter-finals of the Champions League on that night.”

Finally with just 10 games to go now in the Premier League and we want to get in the top four, is it just a case of seeing what happens now and try to win as many games as possible? Is that all we can do in the situation?
“We have dropped too many points in the last three months in situations where we were 1- or 2-0 up. We should have four or six points more but we don't. This is why we cannot afford to drop any more points especially against direct opponents like Tottenham.”