MY ACCOUNT
Harry Maguire is in line for a return to action when Manchester United travel to Brighton and Hove Albion in the Premier League on Saturday, Ralf Rangnick has confirmed.
The United captain has not played since the Red Devils fell to a crushing 4-0 defeat at rivals Liverpool on April 19.
He was only the bench four days later as United lost to Arsenal 3-1, with Rangnick confirming the mental toll of a bomb threat made against Maguire was one reason for leaving him out.
A knee injury then forced him to miss the 1-1 draw with Chelsea and United’s 3-0 defeat of Brentford.
United sit sixth in the Premier League table, five points behind fourth-placed Arsenal going in to the final two games of Rangnick’s tenure as interim manager.
Maguire has been criticised after playing his part in just seven clean sheets in 35 appearances across all competitions this term but should return at the Amex Stadium, although Rangnick refused to say whether he would start.
Fellow England international Marcus Rashford, however, has been ruled out after suffering from a bout of bronchitis.
“Harry is back in training, he trained the whole week, the second day after the Brentford game he resumed training, so he will be available and will be part of the group,” Rangnick told his pre-match press conference.
“This [whether will start Maguire] is a decision I have to make after training today, obviously I don’t want to tell our opponents the line-up with which we will start, but he will definitely be part of the group.
“Edinson [Cavani] is in training, obviously he came on as a sub [against Brentford], [but] Marcus Rashford will be missing, he has caught bronchitis, with a high temperature, so he won’t be able to be part of the group.”
United will defend an excellent head-to-head record against the Seagulls when they travel to the south coast: they have won each of their previous seven games against Brighton in all competitions, their longest ongoing winning run against another current Premier League side.
However, the Red Devils have lost each of their past four away Premier League games, as many as they had in the previous 42 on their travels, making it the club’s longest run of consecutive league reverses on the road since a streak of six between December 1980 and March 1981.
However, as Rangnick prepares to make way for Ajax head coach Erik ten Hag and assume a consultancy role at the end of the season, he reiterated his belief that the future is bright at Old Trafford, saying he was pleased to see his players enjoying their football against the Bees last time out.
“In last two home games we got four points, and the Brentford game was one of our best games in the last six months. I’m positive that the team will try to play on the same level tomorrow and in two weeks’ time against Crystal Palace,” he added.
“Once again, what I liked about the game was you could see they had fun playing together, that they were enjoying themselves on the pitch, and this is exactly the kind of approach we need for tomorrow as well.
“I think it was visible against Brentford, you could see they enjoyed themselves on the pitch. This does not mean everything was perfect, but in possession we were controlling the game.
“With regard to next season, there will be some changes, obviously. There are some players whose contracts are expiring, with new players to join us here, in the end it’s also a thing that needs to be discussed with Erik and the board.
“Erik needs to tell the board which players he wants to work with, but I’m positive with the right new players, plus the players that are already here, the pathway could be a very positive one, this is what we will all try to achieve.
“We will definitely speak at the end of the season. Both Erik and myself want to have our full focus on the outstanding games, he has another three games to play and will do everything to try to win the title in the Netherlands.
“We have agreed we will chat and speak about everything at the end of the season.”
